Resident Alyssa Koch asked for permission on Aug. 18 to install a second culvert at the triplex she owns on Marlette Drive to prevent flooding.

She mentioned that it first flooded on June 8, when about a foot of water entered the building. She didn’t have flood insurance at the time, and it cost her about $8,000 to repair the damage. On Aug. 1, the triplex flooded again, and to fix the floor, the tenants had to be moved out.

“So currently we have an 18-inch culvert there, and that’s usually enough when it rains,” Koch said. “We would like to install a second one, kind of uphill from this one, and that would just serve as an overflow drain, just catching any additional water whenever we had a huge flood.”

She offered to cover all costs of installing the culvert, but wanted permission to start the project.

Alderman Ward 2 Tim Davis said that his main concern was that adding the culvert would cause the extra water to flow onto someone else’s property. Alderman Ward 1 Margie Brine asked if Koch had an engineer look at the problem because she doesn’t believe that another culvert is going to solve the problem.

“That money you have to spend to have someone professionally look at it in the long run is probably going to save you a lot of money because I don’t think that that’s going to solve the issue,” Brine said. “I’m just concerned we’re going to create more issues.”

Koch said she tried, but didn’t have the $17,000 to cover the costs for them to make plans.

“They wanted to do like a berm around it, which all that’s going to do is just force it back on the road and grow,” Koch said.

Mayor Sky Huddleston asked if she had talked to her neighbors regarding adding the culvert and if they had any concerns. Ward 1 Alderman James Naquin agreed that Koch needed to speak to those she believes will be affected by the proposed addition, and then possibly revisit the idea afterwards.

Resident Tim McFadden, who first addressed the council on June 16 about his property flooding with sewage, said that he received a letter from Missouri Public Entity Risk Management (MOPERM).

“I also got a letter from MOPERM saying they launched a thorough investigating, and I’m not sure if they addressed anyone on the board about anything going on, or if they even got the report from the engineering company that said we have poor infrastructure and our sewage lines are collapsing because that is the cause, but they said that they don’t feel as if the city even knew anything about it,” McFadden said. “They never even contacted me. They never came and looked at my sewer lines. Nothing. But they launched a thorough investigation.”

City Attorney Sarah Messex said that she would reach out to MOPERM to address the situation and keep him updated.

Resident Samantha Cash addressed the board concerning issues occurring in Bourbon. Her husband, T.J. Cash, became sick during the boil order that was issued on June 15, and received two bags of IV fluids in the emergency room. She claimed that at first the city accepted responsibility, and later backpedaled.

She also talked about the city’s poor infrastructure that needs updating, and a tornado siren that isn’t loud.

“Natural gas is great, but so is clean water and a working siren,” Cash said.

Sarah Messex was officially sworn in as the city attorney.

Afterwards, Messex addressed some allegations about conflicts of interest between herself and Huddleston.

While the firm she works at, Aubuchon, Buescher, Goodale & Rosloniex, LLC, has previously represented Huddleston, any and all litigation that occurred was prior to Messex being hired as the city attorney.

In other business, Huddleston apologized to the community of Bourbon for previous comments and actions.

“I owe the city and community an apology for some of the previous immature actions and comments I’ve made in the past because it lacks the requisite decorum and dignity expected of a person in my position,” Huddleston said. “I’m hopeful that cooler heads will prevail and that we can all play nice together in the sandbox and move forward.”