DePew named to Poplar Bluff City Council

DePew

A pair of split votes Monday as Poplar Bluff City Council members attempted to fill a vacant seat were a sign of how many good candidates stepped forward, according to the group.

Billy DePew, a retired SMC Electric sales engineer, was ultimately chosen on a 5-1 vote to fill a vacant at-large seat until the next election.

He will be sworn in at the next meeting, Sept. 5.

DePew takes the seat of Robert Duckett, who stepped down for personal reasons shortly after taking office in April as a write-in candidate.

DePew was selected on a motion made by Ward 5 representative Robert Smith and seconded by Ward 3 representative Barbara Ann Horton. Mayor Shane Cornman of Ward 4 cast the sole ‘no’ vote against the motion, which was the second attempt of the meeting to fill the seat.

An earlier motion to name David Boyer to the seat failed 3-3. The motion was made by at-large representative Mark Massingham and seconded by Mayor pro tem Jerrica Fox of Ward 2. Ward 1 representative Lisa Parson cast the third ‘yes’ vote on the motion.

Fox and several of the council members said after the final vote they look forward to working with DePew and thanked the other six individuals who had indicated an interest in the seat.

“It was obviously a difficult decision because none of us could agree. There were so many great people who applied,” Fox said. “For those who didn’t get it, election is in April.”

Cornman and other members of the council said they wanted to reiterate Fox’s statements, and that they look forward to working with DePew.

Others who sought the seat were: Jennifer Hill; Marty Paskel; Jonathan Nauser; Sandra Pratt; Boyer; and Ted Liszewski.

Each of the seven candidates spoke before the council Aug. 1 to share why they were interested in the seat and how they would approach the position.

DePew will serve until April 2024, when the unexpired two years remaining on the term will be up for election.

In other business:

• The council voted to keep property taxes the same for Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 2023, following a public hearing, discussion and vote.

Assessed valuation for real estate is up slightly from 2022, to $231 million from almost $217 million. Personal property gained just under $1 million, reaching nearly $55.1 million.

The general fund receives .5162-cents per $100 of assessed valuation and the police and fire pension fund, .0974-cents. This is expected to generate almost $1.8 million for 2023.

• Received a report on the fiscal year 2022 audit. Additional information will be provided when audit documents are made available to the public. One item was noted by the auditor related to internal controls involving earned grant revenue entries. The auditor said it appeared the item was a clerical error. The general fund had over-expended its budget by the end of the year, following a significant amount of expenditures early in the year for the police department, the auditor said. It hadn’t been accounted for in the budget and was technically a violation of the state statute. The items were paid for in the audit year, but had been budgeted for in the previous audit year. The auditor said this was a common issue in audits. A clean opinion was issued on federal grant expenditures. The audit was approved as presented. City manager Matt Winters thanked auditors and city staff for their efforts on the audit.

• Heard a request from John J. Pershing VA Medical Center to construct a temporary construction entrance at the end of Old Orchard Road for a project to add training and administration support space at the Westwood Boulevard campus. Fox recused herself from this item. Members from the neighborhood that would be impacted spoke against the project, while officials from the VA said there were ways they could alleviate some of the concerns regarding the condition of the impacted street. This item was moved to the Sept. 5 voting session.

• Discussed and approved a change order related to a Community Block Development Grant for street paving.

• Approved an ordinance related to disclosure of potential conflicts of interest for city officers.

• Authorized the purchase of equipment by the Poplar Bluff Police Department from the Kay Porter Fund, money that was donated to the city and can only be used by the department for specific reasons, including improving officer safety.