A new mayor and two new aldermen were sworn in Tuesday night at the Noel City Council meeting.
Mayor Lewis Davis was sworn in, along with North Ward Alderman Alexandria Peck and South Ward Alderman Peggy Vlaovich. Also sworn in to office again were West Ward Alderman Faye Davis and City Marshal Paul Gardner.
Mayor Davis told the council the city is going to try to get a grant from the Missouri Department of Transportation from its 2018 budget for a walkway along the river between the Main Street bridge and the Missouri Highway 59 bridge for the safety of people who walk there.
"There's no path there. They have to walk in the street. I'm really surprised someone hasn't been seriously injured or killed," he said.
Davis also brought up a previously-discussed issue of a judge's chambers to be built inside City Hall. He said the city could borrow the necessary $400 for the materials from the general administrative fund, then pay it back later. Municipal Judge Robert Barth said the chambers would make the city's court a little more professional by giving him a place to deliberate and a place to talk to people in private. The council approved the expenditure.
Gardner told the council the Marshal Office's digital record-keeping system is outdated and no longer able to be updated. He said he has been approached by a company about a new system and will have a proposal at next month's meeting.
Fire Chief Brandon Barrett told the council there was a break-in at the fire station in Lanagan. Someone stole some radios and some other items. The McDonald County Sheriff's Office caught the suspect and got the items back, he said.
Street Superintendent Christopher Craig told the council he heard from Empire Electric about painting the electric poles on Main Street and it has been delayed. He said he is still waiting to hear back from the Missouri Department of Transportation on permission to illuminate the bluffs at night time. He said he is hoping to get a street or two repaired per year.
In other business, the council reappointed Joyce Short to the Noel Housing Authority.
General News on 04/13/2017