At the end of the Cuba Board of Aldermen meeting on Aug. 18, Alderman Ward 3 Jeff Bouse asked Mayor Pitts Lesesne for an update on the malfunctioning financial software.

According to Bouse, when Lesesne became mayor, he informed him of an issue with the software, which he had learned of a couple of weeks before the April election.

“I was made aware of a computer issue that we had with our software program, and it wasn’t allowing, what I was told, it wasn’t allowing, when we pay bills, it wasn’t subtracting that from our bank account,” Bouse said.

Lesesne responded that he has met with the state auditor and also Cuba Comptroller Jennifer Basham, and that the issue with the software is one of the reasons that the audit is taking so long to complete.

Cuba’s current software is with gWorks, which Lesesne claims has a lot of lawsuits against it, and other municipalities have been struggling with.

Two software companies have been reached out to, BS&A Software and Tyler Technologies, which are used by many organizations in Cuba’s surrounding area and are highly recommended.

Waiting for the 2025 financial status to be completed, Lesesne said that the issue will be addressed soon.

Treatment Plant Manager David Minardi announced that J. Oros Environmental, which hauls sludge for Cuba, was raising its prices approximately four cents to 12.5 cents per gallon.

The aldermen discussed whether to amend the contract to add the price increase or to put the job out for bid.

Minardi explained that J. Oros Environmental was the closest facility to Cuba that could handle the volume of Cuba’s sludge. Any other facility either would not be able to handle the volume, or would be too far away and the city would expect a higher price increase to cover the distance.

A motion to amend the contract and accept the price increase was approved by a 6-0 vote.

Terry Miles, of Crazed & Caged Promotions LLC, asked for permission to change the date of their demolition derby in Hood Park.

The derby was originally scheduled for Oct. 10, but Miles said many of the drivers couldn’t attend on that date, so he requested permission to hold the event on Oct. 17.

A motion to accept the date change was approved by a 6-0 vote.

The aldermen discussed renewing the city’s membership with the Meramec Regional Planning Committee (MRPC) for the 2026-27 fiscal year.

Cuba has a higher-tier membership with MRPC because it comes with more membership hours, which are then mostly used for grant writing.

Basham announced that the membership prices did increase this year.

“As it goes up every year. So, it’s almost five grand,” Basham said.

Lesesne asked to table the decision until they hear a response to an email they sent regarding the price per capita.

“We sent an email out because they listed on this (membership renewal) 3,288 people at $1.45 per capita,” Lesesne said.

According to Lesesne, he has looked at the census data for Cuba, and it shows a population of about 3,189 people.

The decision was tabled until they receive information back from MRPC.

A motion to accept Bill No. 2233, which authorizes the mayor to enter into an agreement with Mid-Mo Truss Company for the sale of an electrical transformer, was approved with a 6-0 vote and became Special Ordinance 974.

Bill No. 2234 became Special Ordinance 975 when a motion to accept an ordinance approving a half-cent law enforcement tax on the Nov. 3 ballot was approved with a 6-0 vote.

A motion to adopt Bill No. 2235, which adopted and enacted a new code of ordinances and statutory updates, was approved by a 6-0 vote and became General Ordinance 1254.

In other business, Lesesne opened surplus bids for the board to award to the highest bidder.

Hoyt McCann III was awarded the bids for a Yanman Tractor for $4,227 and a Rayco stump grinder for $3,877. Kenny Staples had the highest bid for the Honda EM 1800x generator for $151.50 and the Honda EM 1600x generator for $121.50. At $150, Cliff Mercer had the highest bid for the Husqvarna self-propelled mower, and Dennis Copling had the highest bid at $251.91 for a 150-gallon tank spray trailer.

A motion to award the bids to the highest bidder was approved with a 6-0 vote.