Bonne Terre to hold parade on July 4

BONNE TERRE — The council officially approved a request by the Bonne Terre Chamber of Commerce for a July 4 parade.

The parade will start near the Post Office at 10 a.m. and end at the city park, where events will be held all day. There will be live music, craft and food booths, sports tournaments, a beer garden, poker and bingo, as well as other activities.

Chamber Executive Director Nancy Dill also asked permission for a petting zoo as part of the July 4 activities.

City officials said the restrooms in the city park won’t be ready for July 4. The chamber and city council will discuss who is responsible for getting the portable toilets after the chamber prices them.

Chief Doug Calvert warned of problems if they didn’t get enough portable toilets. Others pointed out that wash stations and handicapped accessible toilets would be needed.

Wiring will also not be ready as initially expected. The chamber hopes to work with the city to get electricity for vendors somehow.

Councilman Ron Elders said he would be willing to loan his generator if they needed it.

After speaking to the chamber members who were present at the meeting, the council decided not to pass a resolution to support the chamber of commerce’s application for the license office.

Dill said the application was already mailed because the deadline for applications is today. The resolution was intended to accompany the application, officials said.

“We do support you and wish you the best in it,” Councilman LeeRoy Calvert said.

Also during the meeting, the council approved an agreement with the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission for a grant to purchase five handheld radar units.

The city will purchase the units from Applied Concepts Inc. for about $4,300 but will be refunded the money when they get the grant. Sgt. Bill Stegall applied for the grant.

Elders said City Manager Larry Barton and Dwyane Hackworth finished the restrooms in Lakeview Park. He asked them to make sure they get a completion date from a contractor when they get bids in the future. He said the city manager has better things to do than plumbing.

The council awarded a contract to Fox Electrical Contractors of Fredericktown to make $8,300 in repairs to prison well 3. Barton said that well has not been in operation since the prison opened. He said past workers have taken parts from that well to fix the other two prison wells.

Barton said with the repairs, the well will be manually operated. He said these repairs are just to get it up and running.

During the public comment part of the meeting, a resident asked the council if they could repair a big hole on Pine Street. The mayor said they would look at it.

Another resident asked why the city took down yard sale signs that have been placed in front of Nash Realty at the intersection near city hall. The mayor said that some of the signs look really bad and half of the people leave the signs there after the sale.

Another resident, Paul Briley asked about his water and sewer bill and how the bills are figured. The city manager said he would meet with him to look over his bill.

Mayor Fritz Gower said MoDOT gave dirt to the city for fill for the Reynolds field. Councilman Calvert thanked Patrick Claywell who donated about 400 day lilies and volunteers who have been working on the Diamond Drill Park.

During the meeting, the council entered into a contract with First State Community Bank for direct deposit for employees; reverted land that was not used by MoDOT for the Orchard interchange to Orchard LLC and the Golden Hill LLC; and approved liquor licenses.

Teresa Ressel is a reporter for the Daily Journal and can be reached at 573-431-2010, ext. 179 or at tressel@dailyjournalonline.com.