The Humes Road bridge was again the topic of much of the discussion at the Monday meeting of the Weston Board of Aldermen.
The meeting of the board was broadcast on Facebook Live and available via conference call. The board discussed relocating the July meeting to a West Platte School District facility to allow for a higher capacity than city hall.
Board members ultimately decided to keep the meeting at city hall, unless the COVID-19 situation took a shift to the worse.
The board also briefly discussed the decision to cancel the city’s Independence Day celebration due to COVID-19. Other, smaller events had already been canceled or postponed. Many downtown businesses have reopened, with some requiring masks, sign-ins and operating under reduced hours and capacity.
On the agenda was discussion on replacement of the Humes Road bridge, which serves a few homes in the Humes subdivision and has suffered flood damages and submersion several times over the past decade.
City officials have debated for years whether or not the bridge was on private property, with any records of a possible land and maintenance transference lost to time.
City officials tentatively took responsibility for the bridge and its replacement and have shopped around for replacement options via grant programs and other funding mechanisms.
Alderman Michael Goentzel objected to the city’s attempts to fund a bridge replacement project, which engineers have estimated could cost between $200,000-300,000 to build.
“I think it’s borderline irresponsible for the city to take on more debt right now,” Goentzel said.
A low water crossing on Spring Street is on city property, he said, and is also in need of replacement. Goentzel said this bridge was more in need of city funding than the Humes Road bridge. New debt to fund bridge work would be paid for by all residents, he said, while benefiting only a few.
Alderman Joyce Priddy pointed out the board had already committed to replacing the bridge, with alderman James Lowe saying he did not agree with Goentzel’s reasoning. Residents of the Humes addition pay taxes with the exception of sewer taxes, they said, and are deserving of city assistance.
Goentzel cast the sole dissenting vote on a later agreement to pursue funding options for the Humes Road bridge.
LIQUOR LICENSES
Mayor Steven George introduced a proposal to reduce the city’s liquor license renewals from a twice-yearly process to once a year. George said a survey of bars and restaurants in the city showed that the move was a favorable one.
The overhaul would also include changes to servers’ licensing. Currently, servers need to obtain separate “bar cards” to serve alcohol for each restaurant or bar where they may work. Under the new program, one bar card per server would allow the server to work at multiple venues.
George also suggested servers complete an online training program as a part of their licensing. The program teaches servers to identify overly intoxicated customers, recognize minors and serve responsibly. Currently, the serving licenses include a state criminal background check and application, but no specialized training.