Jackson aldermen sign off on new baler, fire and rescue software

The Jackson Mayor and Board of Aldermen approved an intellectual property license agreement for the SafeAcross Program, a pedestrian safety initiative, at their Monday, Jan. 6, meeting.

This authorizes the City of Jackson to use designs and media the city of Springfield made for the program for the duration of the municipalities’ three-year contract.

They also approved a request from director of administrative services Rodney Bollinger for a new horizontal baler to be placed at the city’s recycling center. Four companies had submitted bids for the project. Bollinger and sanitation foreman Collin Campbell selected that of Reaction Distributing Inc. from Ajax, Ontario, Canada.

The company’s bid was for $104,796. The City of Jackson had been awarded a grant of up to nearly $48,000 from the Southeast Missouri Solid Waste Management District to help pay for the new equipment.

Furthermore, the aldermen accepted a proposal from Brycer LLC of Warrenville, Illinois, to supply fire code compliance software services for Jackson Fire and Rescue. The company will provide a three-year contract for the city to use The Compliance Engine, a web-based service that tracks inspections, testing and maintenance code compliance for fire protection systems.

They also approved Mayor Dwain Hahs signing depository agreements with eight Jackson banks. These are First State Community Bank, Commerce Bank, First Midwest Bank, First Missouri State Bank, The Bank of Missouri, US Bank, Southern Bank and Wood & Huston Bank.

Study session results

During the meeting’s study session, city staff presented updates for future projects.

Jackson assistant chief of police Alex Broch informed the aldermen about a request to renew the city’s FLOCK camera program. These license plate readers are located at four major intersections in Jackson.

“It’s (like) four additional officers out there, honestly, because there are some times we can’t be everywhere so it helps us get to the places we need to be,” he said.

Originally, the contract for the program lasted from 2023 to 2025. Aldermanic approval would see it renewed for another two years. The renewal would cost $31,000.

“We’ve gotten really good things off of them from stolen vehicles, stolen license plates, warrants. No missing people yet but that is a possibility with this technology,” Broch said.

Parks and Recreation director Jason Lipe gave an overview of bids for mowing and trimming services. The bids were for different parks, city sites and cemeteries.

Rockhill & Sons Lawn Care presented the lowest bid for the majority of the locations, with JP & BS Lawncare offering the lowest bid for cemetery work.

“We continue to evaluate those and work with contractors to make sure they have adequate equipment and staff to accommodate all of those,” Lipe said.

He said these bids would be discussed at the next aldermanic meeting.