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Bolivar Board approves resolution setting communications procedures with utilities
Summary
The Bolivar Board of Aldermen approved Resolution 2026‑4 to establish rules for how city officials and staff communicate with electric, water and gas utilities, emphasizing a unified external message and allowing written or verbal summaries with staff flexibility.
The Board of Aldermen of the City of Bolivar, Missouri, voted to adopt Resolution 2026‑4, a measure intended to standardize how the city communicates with electric, water and gas utilities.
The Chair read the resolution as establishing procedures for communications and representations with utilities. A Committee member asked whether prior verbal direction to staff would still be acceptable; counsel and other members confirmed that the board’s intent is to preserve the ability to give verbal or written direction and to allow routine business contacts — for example, accounts-payable calls to a company like Liberty — as normal business exceptions.
During discussion, a board member stressed the goal of presenting a "unified message" when the city is engaged in negotiations, contracts, or matters before regulatory bodies. Counsel and board members said the resolution is intended to prevent multiple uncoordinated communications with regulated or unregulated entities and to designate who may speak externally on specific matters.
Members debated whether documentation of communications should be required in writing or could be given verbally; the consensus was that staff should be flexible and that written records are helpful, while confidential items tied to negotiations or litigation would remain protected where legally required. Following discussion, the Chair called the vote and announced adoption of Resolution 2026‑4.
The resolution records the board’s preference for a single, coordinated external message on utility negotiations and clarifies that ordinary, routine contacts with utilities are not intended to fall under restrictions on external communications. The transcript does not show a detailed roll-call for this item prior to the Chair’s announcement that the resolution was adopted.
