Republic City Council relocates

Council finalizes water rate increase, explains rapidly rising charges for customers
The Republic City Council finalized changes in water and sewer rates and authorized work on two subdivisions in its meeting on Jan. 7.
This was the first council meeting held in the BUILDS building, located on South Wilson’s Creek Blvd. Future meetings are all planned at this location, instead of the Municipal Court building on Civic Blvd. The conference room sat council members around moveable tables, rather than the elevated bench of the courtroom.
Final passage of the revised city fees ordinance triggered the rise in water and sewer rates for March 1. Under the ordinance, new base rates for 1,500 gallons of water used in a month will rise to $23.84 for city customers and $35.29 for customers outside the city limits. Rates will rise automatically for the next three years, rising 64 percent next year for city customers.
Sewer rates will rise more slowly. The 2025 base sewer rate will go from $26.85 to $28.19 in 2025, and rising 5 percent in each of the next two years.
City administrator David Cameron said a letter will go to all customers 30 days before the change explaining the increase’s reason. The letter offers a guide to the city’s capital improvement plans and details where the water funds will go for the next 17 years.
Cameron returned to the failure of the city to maintain revenues to address compliance issues, the main reason for the major upgrade underway on the city’s wastewater treatment plant. He proposed drafting an ordinance requiring a master plan, and review of that plan along with the rate structure every five years to guarantee compliance. He further noted even with the rate increases, the city has not budgeted for depreciation of the water and sewer equipment.
The letter and the city’s master plan will be posted on the city’s website. Cameron urged residents to call the city office for guidance in calculating and understanding how the new rates will affect them.
The ordinance introduced in December equalizing street sign regulations, received final passage, effectively allowing bigger signs by thoroughfare intersections. The ordinance will allow bigger signs at the junctions of Hwy. 60 and Hwy. 174, James River Freeway, Hwy. MM and Interstate 44.

Subdivision action
Council members passed a new ordinance approving the final plat for the Boyce Hills mixed-use district subdivision proposed between Hwy. 60 and Hwy. MM, approximately three-quarters of a mile west of the junction of those two roads. Action included repealing the plat approved Dec. 10, 2024 and substituting the new one with changes. Chris Tabor, principal planner, explained that his office asked the developer to hold off filing the plat until after the council meeting. Tabor’s office found the city needed three more utility easements on the 10-foot right-of-way. The change prompted no citizen comments, nor did the introduction of the plan in December.
The final plat for the second phase of the Harper Ridge subdivision also received unanimous approval. Tabor explained the council approved creation of the subdivision in 2021. The second phase involved subdividing approximately 13.8 acres into 45 medium-density lots for single-family homes at the northernmost part of Main Street, with Farm Road 170 as the northern border. The plan included construction of 2,504 linear feet of streets and sidewalks on one side of those streets. There will be two east-west streets and one north-south street between homes on the east, connecting with the previous phase at the southeast corner. The developer is Bester Properties.

Resolutions
- Council members authorized an allowance provision on the Shuyler Creek Trail, being built under a $2 million contract with J.D. Wallace Contracting. Karen Haynes, community development director, reported additional work needed since the original contract includes replacement of a culvert and additional paving. The allowance would cover other work discovered as construction progresses, capping additional expenses at $419,006.56. The project uses federal Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant money and revenues from the city’s transportation sales tax.
- A resolution authorizing an application to construct a farmers’ market passed. Chris Parks, parks and recreation director, explained the city could seek up to $500,000 through the US Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Program to build a farmers’ market at J.R. Martin Park. While the grant requires no match, Parks said the city planned to use $1.3 million as an investment in the project to help scoring on awarding the grant.
- A services agreement with Aegis Digitalis, an international firm based in Frisco, Texas, was adopted for supporting the interface of records between the prosecuting attorney’s office and the municipal court. The city partnered with Springfield to develop an automated system in July 2023. Staff manually entered 4,300 citations into the system that year, occupying much of time of two city employees. Megan McCullough, city attorney, reported the city hired Aegis Digitalis to develop software to better handle the process for $8,000. That having been finished, she asked the council to approve a maintenance and support agreement to continue its use.
The one-year agreement, McCullough said, could cost up to $75,000. She anticipated a separate contract for later years costing $20,000 or less per year. Software developers, she noted, do not disclose their hourly rates, but the developer she worked with, even at $175 an hour, was “absolutely worth it.”
- In his report, Cameron offered commendations to Major General Dean Thompson with the US Army Reserve, a past Republic city administrator. Thompson received his promotion on Jan. 4 in Springfield and is one of only 41 people sharing that rank. Thompson is the commanding general of the 76th Operational Response Command, based in Salt Lake City, that oversees the southwest Missouri area.
- The next council meeting will be on Jan. 21.