Article Archives

Paris Coyotes Capture Class 2, District 6 title as they defeated Canton 70-61 in final!

The Paris Coyotes captured the Class 2, District 6 title with a 70-61 victory over Canton. The Championship Team, left to right: First row - William Ransdell, Jordan Melendez, Jon Gilliam, Kable Ragsdale, Taylor Barr and Tyler Dunlap. Second row - Coach Wade Billington, Alex Thomas, Garrett Thomas, Matt Jeffers, Cole Lockhart and Assistant Coach Mike Fible. The boy's season came to an end with a terrific basketball game versus Eckridge in sectional play but found themselves on the wrong side of the 67-66 overtime contest. Jon Gilliam hit a fantastic 25' three pointer with three players hanging on him to send the game to overtime. Congratulations to the Coyotes on a great season.   1332 0911 3/12/2009 hdl

Paris 1998 Graduate Howard Henke

The Paris Chapter of Rotary International will hold their annual Top Five Banquet on Thursday, April 2, 2009, at 6:30 p.m., in the high school cafeteria. The banquet recognizes the top five students of the 2009 graduating class.
   The 2009 Paris High School Top Five to be honored includes (in alphabetical order):
   Heidi Davis, daughter of Joe Randall Davis and Janice Davis; Lauren L. Dye, daughter of Kevin and Stacy Dye; Kayla M. Luckett, daughter of Joy Sexton; Nathan Mooneyham, son of Tom Mooneyham; and Jennifer M. Windmann, daughter of Ralph and Tracy Windmann.
   This year’s speaker is Paris R-II Class of 1998 graduate Howard Henke.
   After graduating from Paris R-II in 1998, he received an associate degree in Agriculture Business Management from John Wood Community College in Quincy, Ill., and a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture from Western Illinois University in Macomb, Ill. He started his career as a grain merchandiser with ADM in Memphis, Tenn., and later moved to New York as a rice trader, still with ADM. In addition to trading rice, he was also involved with chartering ocean vessels, trading barge freight and coordinating logistics. Early this year, he left ADM and joined Louis Dreyfus Commodities as a trading manager for rice.
   “Without a good idea of where you want to go, you never know where you will end up,” said Henke. “As recently as seven years ago, I never saw myself trading rice or living in New York, but that is what I have enjoyed doing for the past six years.”
   Along with his wife, Eileen, they live in Bronxville, NY, just outside New York City. In addition to working at LDC, he is currently attending NYU Stern School of Business in New York, where he is working towards a M.B.A. and playing rugby. If he has spare time, he enjoys skiing, golfing, playing basketball and spending time with family and friends.   1346 0911 3/12/2009 hdl

(Top) Paris R-II FBLA President Lauren Dye, left, and Sponsor Barb Mason make announcements during the FBLA meeting. (Bottom) FBLA Business Person of the Year Karen Johannaber, Hometown Connection, right, and Paris Outstanding member Alex Kennedy were recognized for their outstanding accomplishments, at the Paris R-II FBLA meeting, on Thursday morning, March 5.   1350 0911 3/12/2009 hdl

On Tuesday, March 3, the City of Paris held a public hearing regarding the proposed sewerage system improvements and revenue bond election beginning at 7 p.m. This was the second in a series of three public meetings to help inform residents of the upcoming ballot issue. The final meeting will be held at the city office on Tuesday, March 24, at 7 p.m.
   City Superintendent Phillip Shatzer began the meeting with a history of the Wastewater and Water Systems for the City of Paris. Scott Adams with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR), in Macon, addressed several of the issues facing the city regarding upcoming DNR requirements. Steve Goehl, Public Finance with D.A. Davidson & Co., answered questions regarding the issuance of bonds and Mark Bross. P.E., representing Klinger & Associates, PC, also answered questions from the public. Following discussion Mayor Russell Peterson adjourned the public hearing. See related article this page.
   What is the ballot issue and why is it needed? The ciy has provided the following information for residents to be better informed about the issue:
   Overview: The City of Paris needs to make improvements to its sewerage system in order to comply with standards now being imposed by state and federal regulatory agencies for communities throughout Missouri. There are communities like Paris who are facing the same issues to make improvements to their sewer systems to be in compliance with the new regulations. If cities identified as in need of improvements do not comply with the new regulations, the matter could soon be moved to the jurisdiction of federal regulatory agencies and those communities could be subject to fines as high as $10,000 per day for each and every day a system is not in compliance.
   What are the specific problems? The City’s sewer discharge permit expired on Oct. 30, 2008. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has issued the City a new permit with stipulations the treatment system must be improved to meet the maximum acceptable discharge limits. It has been determined a new process is necessary to disinfect the effluent discharge as required to meet fecal coliform/E Coli limits by 2013. In addition, the City will be required to add phosphorous removal equipment in the next permit cycle. To compound the problems, the sewerage collection system experiences high flows due to inflow and infiltration following heavy rains. As a result, of the collection system not being able to handle the flows that result from heavy rains, untreated sewerage is frequently discharged across land and streets in the community. The City has begun work to reduce the amount of inflow and infiltration into the system, but will need financial assistance to effectively continue these efforts and bring the system into compliance with the new regulations.
   What improvements are proposed: To meet the new requirements and avoid regulatory violations (as well as to forgo “quick fixes”), the City is proposing to construct a two cell lagoon and land irrigation system to eliminate any discharge to waters of the State. The City will also attempt to upgrade and rehabilitate the sewerage collection system throughout the entire community by completing such activities as replacing problem sewerage collection mains and lining manholes. In addition the City plans to refinance the existing loan for water system improvements and obtain a much lower rate of interest.
   How will the city finance the improvements: It is the City’s goal to address system deficiencies while minimizing the financial burden on the users. The City has made, and will continue to make, application to various state and federal funding agencies for financial assistance in the form of grants and low-interest loans. In order to be eligible for these grants and loans, the City must indicate its ability to contribute to the cost of project. This indication is accomplished through the authorization and issuance of bonds. The amount of bonds issued will be based on what is needed to successfully complete the proposed improvements. Residents are not (and will not be) subject to any debt expense for bonds that are authorized but not issued.
   How will this affect monthly user bills: As the City aims to provide customers with a reliable and affordable means of treating sewerage, user rates will be adjusted only if, and to the extent, necessary to provide for proper maintenance and operations of the
   sewerage system, and to meet all state and federal regulations. Based on preliminary estimates, the 5,000-gallon per month user’s sewer bill will be approximately $37.50 which is an increase of $15.00/month . The City will continue to make applications for the grants and low-interest loans which, if received, may lower the anticipated monthly user rate. However, if the City was forced to finance the project on its own without State or federal assistance, it is estimated the 5,000-gallon monthly user rate will be in the neighborhood of $50.00. (NOTE: It is the goal of the Citv to utilize a portion of the voted authorization to refinance the loan used to make improvements to the water system at a lower interest rate loan.
   What happens if the ballot issue is successful: If the ballot issue is successful, the City may be able to take advantage of the recently implemented stimulus funding and immediately commence with the system improvements. The City has retained the services of Klingner and Associates, a licensed and professional Missouri engineering firm, to assist in developing a plan to bring the City’s sewerage system into regulatory compliance.
   What if the ballot issue fails: If the City were to ignore the regulatory requirements, we could potentially be subject to fines. NOTE: Applicable fines can be as high as $10,000 per day for each day the City is not in compliance. If the ballot issue fails, the City will still be forced to carry out the project but may need to complete the improvements on a pay-as-you-go basis. This would result in significantly higher estimated monthly increases due to higher interest costs. In addition, construction costs will continue to rise with each passing year. With time, the risk of incurring regulatory fines for non-compliance will only increase.
   “Important points to remember**
   1) The City’s current sewerage collection and treatment process does not meet state and federal requirements.
   2) The proposed improvements will be paid for solely from user rates.
   3) The City must increase user rates to help pay for the required upgrades. But this will not increase property tax levies.
   4) The passage of the proposed bond issue will allow the City to obtain low interest rate financing and may allow the City an opportunity to procure even lower special rates implemented in the recently signed stimulus bill. The stimulus funding will be a one time opportunity for projects planned for construction in 2009.
   5) The estimated cost to construct the new sewer treatment system is $2,900,000 and to refinance the existing water debt service will require approximately $850,000. Refinancing the existing water debt service could lower the annual debt service payment from $60,000 to $50,000 for 14 years.
   Shall Paris, Missouri, issue its combined waterworks and sewerage system revenue bonds in the amount of $4,000,000 for the purpose of extending and improving the combined waterworks and sewerage system, the cost of operation and the maintenance of said combined waterworks and sewerage system and the principal and interest on said revenue bonds to be payable solely from the revenues derived by the City from the operation of its combined waterworks and sewerage system, including all future improvements and extensions thereto.   1347 0911 3/12/2009 hdl

The Paris City Council held their regular meeting on Tuesday, March 3. The meeting began at 7:45 p.m.
   Monroe County Sheriff David Hoffman passed out the number of logged officer hours that were performed for the City of Paris. Sheriff Hoffman answered any questions that the council had.
   There were no public comments and the minutes for Feb. 3 were approved unanimously.
   Approval was given by the council members to Matt Ensor representing a group that is sponsoring a tractor pull at the city park on Saturday, July 18, for a Beer Garden during the tractor pull.
   An agreement authorizing the City as a Red Cross Emergency Shelter was approved unanimously as was an agreement with Tatlow, Gump and Faiella, LLC to represent the city in requesting a termination and/or modification of the Maurine Agnew Trust was approved unanimously.
   Council Bill 2009-06 (Ordinance 758) Authorizing an Administrative Internal Control Policy, Detailing Cash Receipts, Accounts Payable and Payroll Policies was read twice and approved.
   PNB was awarded the bid on the Permanent Care Investment Certificate of Deposit.
   The bills for the month of March were approved to be paid as were the financial reports for the month of March.
   City Superintendent Phillip Shatzer reported on the activities of each department. The offer for the Delores Paulus Property, a small tract of land connected to the city park, was accepted. Preliminary notice has been received from the Mark Twain Solid Waste District informing the city that the grant was approved for the grandstand seating for $14,386.79 for recycled lumber. It was noted that Consolidated Electric has informed the city that there will be a 13.7% increase effective April 1 and will show up on the May 1 invoice. The third in a series of public hearings will be March 24, before the annual city budget meeting.
   The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.   1348 0911 3/12/2009 hdl