Council to appoint new member after Duckett resigns

The Poplar Bluff City Council will accept letters of interest to fill an open at-large seat following the resignation of a member.

Robert Duckett, who was elected to the council in April, submitted his resignation, saying he has moved out of the city limits.

Due to family needs, Duckett said that he needed to step down in a letter read by Mayor Shane Cornman.

“We’ll be asking for anybody that’s interested to submit a letter of interest to city hall,” said Matt Winters, city manager.

Because the seat is at-large, anyone who lives in the city limits and meets all qualifications to be an elected official can submit a letter.

The person selected would serve until the April 2024 election, when the remainder of Duckett’s three-year term would be a ballot item.

The council previously appointed an individual to fill the remainder of council seat terms in 2016 and 2015. Those replacements were determined by a vote of the council.

Information concerning a deadline for when letters must be received by was not available at press time.

Bidding process

A nationwide vehicle shortage has made local bidding processes cumbersome, city officials said during the workshop session of Monday’s meeting.

Winters has been asked to look into the possibility of streamlining the local bidding process.

Council members discussed and voted Monday on the $110,500 purchase of a dump truck. The item was both a workshop and voting measure as part of an effort to speed up the process, according to the discussion.

It was the lowest of three bids, with the highest being $190,300. The successful bid was from TAG Truck Center/Lonestar Truck Group of Poplar Bluff.

Street superintendent Jerry Lawson said a state program that used to help with the speed of obtaining vehicles is no longer available, likely due to the overall shortage of vehicles.

It is a problem the Missouri Department of Transportation and other entities are also facing, city officials said.

The state procurement program would get bids on various pieces of equipment, including vehicles, Winters explained. Those bids could then be used to purchase an item from a dealer who could meet the state bid price and specifications, without an additional bidding process from the city.

The city must obtain its own bids without the procurement program. Purchases of more than $5,000 require competitive bidding, with a bid published at least 10 days prior to the closing of the bid. If city council approval is needed for the purchase, it must be placed on a workshop agenda for discussion and an action agenda for a vote. Typically, items are on a workshop meeting agenda, then moved to the following city council meeting for a vote.

“By the time we get specs and bids ... it’s gone because these guys can’t afford to sit around waiting,” Lawson said, asking if it would be possible to suspend the bidding process on certain items.

Council member at-large Mark Massingham asked Winters look into the matter.

Massingham asked at the close of the meeting that a moment of silence be held to recognize retired Poplar Bluff police officer Tim Davis, who passed away June 15.

In other business:

• The council approved a measure to allocate $500,000 of American Rescue Plan Act money toward the $1 million cost of a new firetruck, after grant money was awarded to previous ARPA projects.

• Re-appointed Chris Yarbro to the airport advisory board.

• Approved the discharge of fireworks for July 1 at the Poplar Bluff Motorsports Park.