About 50 people packed the Mexico City Council chambers tonight. The hot-button topic was the possibility of turning the old Audrain County Hospital cancer center into a suitable location for a Mexico City Hall.
The council discussed and then voted down paying for a preliminary build/design work concept known as Bill No. 2026 – 09. It was a resolution to authorize Mexico City Manager Bruce Slagle to sign an order with Navigate Building Solutions, LLC.
The passage of the bill would have sent $366,000 in city money to the group to begin plans on redesigning the old Audrain County Hospital’s cancer wing into a new City Hall.
The bill ran into problems on two fronts. Councilman Larry Webber felt like he wanted to see more options for where City Hall could be built, while Councilman Chris Miller and Mayor Steve Haag both felt that procedurally the city needed to be on the record that they are ready to move forward with the plans for either building a new City Hall (projected at $18.6 million), restructuring the current facility ($18.7 million) or restructuring the cancer wing at an estimated $12.8 million.
In order to do that, Roberts Rules of Order, would require them to actually put one, or all, of those options on the council’s agenda, which will probably happen at a meeting in the foreseeable future.
Mexico Public Safety Director Brice Mesko also addressed the assembly reiterating that Public Safety has needed a new home for some time and his most recent employee that quit, mentioned the lack of up-to-date facilities as a reason as to why they left the department.
Several community members also spoke on both sides of the issue including Donna Corrado, Alex Finck, Linda Reid, Michael Daugherty and Mike Briggs.
In other business, Bill No. 2026 – 10, which was a resolution authorizing the City to pay Lumix Electrical, LLC for replacement of the Small Press Control Panel at the Wastewater Treatment Plant passed unanimously. The tab for the part was just over $106,000, and according to Assistant City Manager Drew Williford, was already part of the city’s 2026 budget for the plant.
Bill No. 2026 – 08 was also considered. It was a resolution authorizing the City to execute a Contract of Obligation with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources regarding Post-Closure Expenditures for the City of Mexico Sanitary Landfill (Permit No. 0100703).
There are currently two vacancies with unexpired terms on the Mexico Parks and Recreation Board. Kathy Hopkins and Terry Henage have both submitted their resignations and their terms were set to expire in June 2028. The city received an application from Regina Johnson for the positions and, upon the suggestion of City Manager Bruce Slagle, Johnson was unanimously approved to fill one of the positions.