The Jefferson City Council met Tuesday night in regular session.

The Council approved the 2021 fiscal year budget, following a public hearing on the topic. The overall tax levy will be $15.10 per $1,000 of property valuation. Next, the Council formerly approved the plans and specifications for the Chestnut and Adams street water main improvement project, following a public hearing. The project includes construction of a six-inch water main on the north side of City Hall. The Council then approved the low bid of Keller Excavating from Boone of $216,516, which was lower than the engineer’s cost estimate of $220,000. 

Additionally, the Council approved hiring Jeremy Beherns as a patrol officer for the police department with a salary of $50,692 due to his 22 years of prior law enforcement experience. Beherns will start April 17th. The Council also set May 12th as the public hearing date for the airport runway extension project that will be fully funded by the Federal Aviation Administration through a grant. 

The Council set another public hearing for April 28th to amend the City’s Urban Renewal Plan. The proposed amendment is to remove the limit of $150,000 of tax increment financing (TIF) funds per building and leave the maximum amount of $600,000 for the year. The Council then approved a contract for $217,370 for a roof replacement project at 100 East State Street, subject to approving the Urban Renewal Plan amendment. The Council also approved an addition  to the shower repair project for the swimming pool. Following prior Council approval at the March 24th meeting, the bid of $27,642 did not include labor, which brought the total to $38,642. Payment for the project will come from Local Option Sales and Services Tax and the City’s general fund. Finally, the cat committee update was tabled due to needing to meet with other entities before announcing a proposal to the feral cat situation.