Mayor Thornton and City Administrator Houseman attended the recent Armory Board meeting. Total expenses for the armory this year were approximately $120,000 with electricity alone costing $37,000. It had been discussed at previous city council meetings that city council members would like to see a better balance of the city and Wagner Community School sharing the expenses more equally, instead of the city being in the red financially when it comes to the armory. The school does supply paper products and insurance in addition to other financial assistance for their use of the facility. Members of the WCS school/board discussed what could be done, but no decisions were made and the increase of financial assistance to the city in regards to the armory was not approved. That part of the armory board meeting was left at a standstill, but the board should know more in a couple of months.

There were other topics discussed at the Armory Board meeting. The rental rates for use of the armory will increase from $75 to $100. There will be an armory rental agreement that will need to be signed for rentals that will include no burning of any kind in the armory even for religious purposes as the fire alarms are sensitive. People/organizations that rent the Armory will be charged for total amount of rental time, not just the event time. Meaning that the time needed to set up an event beforehand, the renter will also be responsible for paying.

Several other issues regarding the armory were also discussed. A new stove was purchased for the armory at a cost of $750. This was important as anyone renting the armory can also rent the kitchen for an extra fee. There has also been scheduling conflicts where the armory has been double booked because there is not just one set person in charge of the scheduling. The last issue discussed involving the armory was the possibility of a separate checking account. This account would only be used for the armory so that the city of Wagner and WCS can both have access to better track their expenses and contributions.

The curfew whistle will once again blow nightly Sunday through Thursday, starting March 3rd. At 9:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday there will be one short blast of the whistle as a warning that curfew will be enforced at 10 p.m. On the weekends (Friday and Saturday) there will not be a whistle, but the curfew is at 12 a.m. The city will begin advertising more details as well as the fines/ consequences involved.

At next month’s city council meeting there will be an updating of ordinance 3-2-8 (b) Authorizing Special Alcoholic Beverage Licenses Issued in Conjunction with Special Events. After some discussion with the new city attorney, it was brought to the council’s attention that there does not need to be a special hearing for an organization who already holds an on-sale liquor license within the city of Wagner, there will be an additional fee of $100 for that special event. Any private organization, entity or person requesting a special event on-sale license must hold the event at a licensed on-sale establishment, the Wagner National Guard Armory or the American Legion Hall. During the meeting, it was also discovered and discussed that the city has been doing licensing for off sale liquor sold for charitable fundraisers incorrectly. In order for a charitable organization that does not already have a liquor license to obtain a special beverage license, the alcohol will actually have to be donated to the charity by a member of the public for their fundraising.

The topic with the liveliest discussion at the meeting was what the wages for upcoming summer employees should be. The range of city pool personal was from $11.50 for a first-year lifeguard to $14 for the pool manager and the first-year summer maintenance paid $15 and $15.50 for experienced help. It was discussed that three of our previous summer maintenance workers were going to work for the Corp of Engineers in Pickstown due to better pay with a starting wage of $18. It was brought up by council member Meike Slaba that we need to be paying our summer help a more competitive wage or we will not be getting experienced summer help to return. It was also discussed that there is a shortage of individuals interested in being lifeguards as well as if hired are too busy with summer activities to work, leaving the pool short staffed often. It was decided that the city would start advertising for summer help without an advertised wage. The wage discussion was basically tabled for another meeting after phone calls could be made to other pools to see what they paid their lifeguards/staff.