Kennett council considers rental compliance and supports police equipment upgrade

KENNETT, Mo. - The city council here at its Tuesday meeting voted to continue the city's contract for mosquito control and approved an expenditure for police protective vests, among other business.

Mosquito control by Vector Disease Control costs the city $93,730 annually, remitted in 12 monthly payments of $7,810.86, a three percent increase from previous years that was negotiated down from the projected cost of $97,825 annually, said Ward IV Councilor and Finance Committee Chair Steve Panousis.

The project is taxpayer funded by a $2 fee added monthly to Kennett Board of Public Works bills, City Clerk Jan McElwrath said.

The five-year contract applies to the 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028, and 2029 terms, according to the agreement.

Services include at least four rounds of aerial treatments, disease monitoring with species and pest population counts, and weekly larvicide applications, with testing processes included in the price.

A Vector representative said the company makes use of different pesticides specific to each species for proper control.

However, mosquito eradication is nearly impossible, he said.

The representative was familiar with the city's needs and said he would deliver the contract on Wednesday.

Ward 4 Councilor Dennis Pelts and Kennett Police Dept. Chief Kenny Wilson addressed the council regarding the department's need to retire bulletproof vests that have run their course for officers' protection and requested the council approve the purchase of new equipment.

Pelts said Wilson applied for a 50/50 matching grant that would fund the purchase of 20 high-quality replacements for $23,000, half of that funded by the city for $11,500.

The councilor said he'd like to see the vests delivered on a staggered basis, and the cost would be funded from the police department budget line item. The council approved the request unanimously.

In other business, the council:

Heard from Wilson regarding renewing the annual Missouri Dept. of Transportation Traffic Grant, which allocates approximately $25,000 for DWI enforcement and $13,000 for speed limit enforcement within the city limits. The council agreed to sign off on the request. Wilson said the department spent more than $30,000 on DWI control in 2024.

Panousis asked department heads to begin work on their preliminary budget requests for next year and tasked them with an April 1 deadline.

Commended Street Department leadership for placing signs on dead-end roads. The efforts are ongoing and will continue.

Heard from Ward 1 Councilor Lisa Dry about city employees' health insurance coverage. Kennett Mayor Jake Crafton asked Dry to form a committee to consider the issue. Dry is chair, Tina Butler is co-chair, and Ward 3 Councilor Kevin Swain, Wilson, Tyler Roberts, and resident Carolyn Brooks-Ellis complete the committee. Dry noted the committee defined and approved the scope of the study, conceived a timeline with milestones, and meets again on Friday, Feb. 7. Employee satisfaction surveys are being disseminated this week.

The council considered paying an invoice from SEMO Air for $850 for heat and air unit filter changes. After some discussion, the council approved the expenditure.

Crafton said the city saved in excess of $1,200 thanks to the Kennett Board of Public Works, which supplied the city a piece of equipment for use in lifting an air-conditioning unit to the roof of city hall. Crafton said the relationship between the city and the utility is a positive one and commended both KBPW CEO Jamie Chitester and all the employees involved with the project.

Heard from Kennett Code Enforcement Officer Victor Mode regarding City Ordinance 3099, the landlord/city/tenant agreement. Mode said 17 rental property owners failed to comply with the ordinance that requires them to register their rental properties with the city and gain business permits for each unit, that warning notices were mailed, and that those who refused to register their rentals with the city now will be issued citations. Fines range up to $1,000. It was noted that so far, every rental home that underwent inspection passed except one. It also was noted that one tenant who failed to maintain the rented property and attempted to rent from another landlord was unable to rent again under the ordinance requirements, and that the person made restitution to the former property owner's satisfaction, thus demonstrating the ordinance facilitates cooperation among the city, tenants, and landlords.

The Kennett City Council meets at 6:30 p.m. the first and third Tuesdays of every month in the council chambers at Kennett City Hall, 200 Cedar St., Kennett.

The public is encouraged to attend.

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