Richmond council orders special election, approves two rezonings, police accreditation application and fleet updates

The Richmond City Council on May 12 approved a package of routine administrative and land-use actions, including an ordinance ordering a special election to resolve two tied municipal races and approvals to rezone two properties the city plans to sell.

The council voted to order a special election to be held with the Aug. 4, 2026 primary after City Attorney Chris Williams reported ties in the April 7 municipal election: a Ward 1 result in which seven individuals each received one vote and a Ward 4 tie between two candidates who each received nine votes. Council approved Bill No. 26‑09 on a 5‑0 roll call after title-only readings; the final approval motion was moved by Councilor June Paige and seconded by Councilor Deanna Guy.

Interim Community Development Director Heather Robertson presented two rezoning requests the council approved. Bill No. 26‑10 rezones 795 Diamond Drive at the request of the Richmond R‑XVI School District to facilitate sale of that parcel; Bill No. 26‑11 rezones 805 E. Main at the request of Apple Tree Development to restore a prior commercial designation for sale. Both rezonings were recommended by the Planning & Zoning Commission and each passed on a 5‑0 roll call.

Police Chief Scott Bagley asked the council to accept Resolution No. 472 so the department can apply for the Missouri Blue Shield Public Safety Accreditation Program. Bagley said accreditation would make the department eligible for grants of up to $50,000 for training, equipment and other public-safety initiatives. The council approved the resolution; the minutes record the roll as approving the measure (the roll call in the minutes lists six yes votes: Paige, Kinnard, Guy, Hardwick, Bond and Brash; see note below on a discrepancy in the minutes).

Finance Director Ashley Bennett requested and the council approved recycling and replacing seven of the city’s eleven leased vehicles through Enterprise. The vehicles to be replaced include three 2022 Ford F‑250s, three Chevrolet Silverado 2500HDs and one Ford F‑150 used by parks. Bennett said the replacements will be 2026 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HDs (four with plow mounts, two without, plus the parks extended‑cab truck with plow) and that the city expects the annual lease cost to fall by about $7,937. The council also approved participating in Enterprise’s WEX fuel‑card program, which assigns cards to vehicles, uses employee PINs to track purchases and offers a 5%–7% discount at participating stations such as Conoco, Phillips 66 and Casey’s.

Mayor Mike Wright opened the meeting, led procedural items and said the scheduled closed session was not needed and was removed from the agenda. City Administrator Tonya Willim told the council that the five‑year plans, Capital Improvement Plan and FY‑27 kickoff will begin May 19, 2026, and that FY‑25 audit communications have begun with auditors.

The meeting record shows unanimous final vote tallies of 5‑0 on the ordinance and the rezoning and fleet motions. The minutes include an inconsistency: the initial roll call in the minutes lists Rob Brash as absent, but the recorded roll for Resolution No. 472 lists Brash among the yes votes. The minutes also contain a misspelling of Councilor Barb Hardwick’s name in parts of the roll-call text (appearing as “Harwick”); both issues are noted here as discrepancies in the minutes' text and not as corrected facts about who voted.

The council adjourned at 6:56 p.m.