Dave Casotti, Boone Mayor, August 18, 2026

It is time for our program today and we're joined by Mayor Dave Cassotti. Good to have you here, Mayor. Good to be here, Jim. Thank you. You made it through the council meeting. Yeah. Actually, that and the utility committee meeting. You were there for that as well. Yeah, back to back. And a lot of discussion about the utility committee, a little more issue on just some of the bottom line is you had a major, one of the major projects that the city's looking at to facilitate DAISY and some of the growth down on the southeast side of town. Yeah. This, well, was well over the engineer's estimate, but all three contractors bid pretty much in the same range. They did. So it was the bids were on, it's just the estimates were off and I felt kind of bad for that gal, one of the engineers of the SEA, she took the brunt of it. I did it because we were expecting the bid to be, or the estimate to be close to what the bids were and they weren't. So the bids are right. It's just, we didn't weren't able to plan because of the estimate being off. It does create issues on the financing side, which again, that was one of the things that actually got council. How do you want to handle it? Yep. And so listeners understand, city is going to be using a lot of state revolving loan money. Yep. And the question is, and Andrea, I'm course presented it to you. Do we want to plan to go for more to cover that two million? Yep. Which would mean then we would have to make adjustments in our rates. Right. Council was not overly happy about that. I wasn't and council wasn't. So no, that's. At the same time, you have been gradually setting aside money and people wondering, why are you saving money? You got extra money anyway. But part of it is to save it up so that when you get towards the end and you know how much you're going to actually have to borrow, you can buy that down. Right. So and then I get rid of some of that principle. Yep. So yep, that's throughout they voted to go. And I think it's a good move. I do not want to raise rates. I don't want to raise anything on people. It's just that's not good. So yeah, if we can make that happen and get through it, that'll be the best way to do it. So we'll see at the end how we come out. And for people that might not quite understand what all is going on, this is going to be an upgrade on the current lift station that we already have, which had been planned to be done anyway. They just had to up size it because of Daisy and any other future growth there. So you do have an additional capacity built into this. Right. Yep. So yeah. And the line itself, the force main, obviously the big thing for the council, as they took a look at it, did not want to go through the sewer system on the south end of town. Right. Just too much. Yep. There would be too much going through there. And that would really create problems for residents. Yeah. Instead, they said, let's make this just straight force main. And putting it into force means not easy, especially coming in the south end of McCose Park. Right. That's where I think part of the additional cost came in. Pipe cost more than double. So I mean, there are reasons that it was over the estimate. But then they looked into different materials for the piping, but it was they came in higher yet. So yeah, it's we're stuck there. But and then you do have a deadline. That's the other part. We don't have time to sit and go back out to bid. And with three bids coming in pretty close to being the same, I doubt that we're missing something. But yeah. And yeah, time wise, we just we've got to get moving. So it started on this because it needs to be done by August of 28th and operational because that's when Daisy plans to start up. Pretty sure that they'll be using it earlier than that. I guess so. This will be a project that you're definitely folks, you're going to see this one happening because it'll be down on the south side of town along 30. And it's going to be noticeable. It will be. Another one related to that. And again, mostly it was handled. And you did have it come up during the council meeting itself, too. But the other side of town to the north with the Water Main project, we did have Evan there from SEH. And he's been doing the water side. I know. We got both going on here. And then Vensel is handling the stuff on the Water Main, the North Transmission Main. Again, another $7 million project. But definitely adding capacity and redundancy to your current water system. But this is going to the north. And the question for the council last night was, so we've got about 60% of the design completed, getting ready to talk easements and stuff. We could be having lengthy discussions with some of the property owners. Do we redirect this? And again, totally on, definitely letting the council know. Times of fact. Yeah, I was going to say, times an issue there again. So it's, yeah, we've got tough choices to make. But I think we're making the right ones and decided to go the different direction and avoid that one. We've got a couple of easements we have to do. But avoid a couple more and get it in there. So again, to get it going for timing-wise. So some of the part of this is because you're trying to keep it within the city as much as possible. But this one would jaunt it outside in the county right away. Yeah. It's coming from Water Works. That's not city all the way from town to there. So yep, we've got. And some of the those with easements already, not a problem. Right. Ready to work with you. So rather than get into lengthy discussions and negotiations, we'll just reroute it a little bit and go from there. Yep, exactly. It does take a couple of the easements out of play as well. It does. And I think we probably could have worked through that. But again, with the timing thing, it's, yeah. Gotta get it done. Another 7 million. We're just throwing these numbers around, right? Right. Altogether, and this will be coming up at your next meeting too, and that's part of taking a look at the state reloving loan fund. And you are talking in the neighborhood of almost 21 million. Right. Again, not everything is finalized at this time. This is all beforehand where you lay out kind of all the plans to the DNR and anti-will finance authority and everything and saying, here's what we're looking at. This is what we could be needing. Right. And as we get to the end of it, we'll see. Then we'll see. Exactly. Keep our fingers crossed on the bids on that one. Yep. It's got a lot happening there. Last night, council did approve. And again, lengthy discussion. And once again, dissatisfaction, I think, but approving the animal control contract with the Boonary Humane Society. A lot of your council, not particularly pleased with the way that this is gone. No, it's just. And you haven't been particularly pleased either. No, it's frustrating when we have a, and it's not a city-run entity. So they have a board, and the board wouldn't sit down and negotiate with us. And they would just send a representative, and then we wanted to do some more negotiations, and they didn't show up at all. And it's like, I just, I don't understand why not. But so, yeah, we reluctantly, I guess, best way to put it, renew the contract through the end of the next fiscal year with, there is a caveat in there that if we can cancel or end that contract with a 30-day notice at any time. So we're doing our due diligence and looking at other options. And that's a challenge, too. Because, I mean, you have, but some of the council members, too, and you had some residents that raised questions about their voice, their concerns about working with the Boone Area Humane Society. So it's a service that we need. Whether it's from the Humane Society or not, we need some animal control officers of some sort from somewhere. So it's something we've got to work on and work through. But we'll get there. And this contract, it does work out to be just over $100,000, about one quarter of their operating budget. And I know some people will say, well, I could do that for $100,000. There's several requirements that the city would look at before because you'd have to bet somebody that's going to be doing this. Correct. So having facilities, having, again, got to have meet the qualifications of DNR, excuse me, idols, because it falls under the egg department. So it's another not easy thing. Why can't we just have something that's easy? Well, this one was a matter of, they have calculated out what they think the costs are for this. And they need to meet that. And council did not question it. Basically, it wouldn't want to see these numbers. But they also were cutting some services, not a lot, but their emergency services got cut on that. And I think that was one of the big stickling points, that and some of the feedback we've got. So it's, yeah, there's a lot to it. Well, at this point, contract has been approved. It will go forward and, again, allow you some other opportunities. Council also, this presented by Andrea Almquist, but there were a few different things that were going on. Did ask for a letter of support for grant process for, let's see, downtown Boone and is it Seymour? Seymour properties, I believe. Seymour properties, yeah. OK, so boy, it's the 705? Yeah, I think 705. Yeah, just the north of. It's right north of the modern dress. Yeah, modern dress. And so, again, that in there, where we know the lower level is going to have a lounge. But this would be the housing on top. And the city's already supported the effort by doing some downtown incentive fund things and helping them there. But this would be just a letter of support for allowing them to pursue additional. I think part of it is a challenge grant. I think this is the big one that Main Street is after. And downtown Boone is really the Main Street. Really interested in having somebody put up a very competitive application. Right, yeah. So we'll get that signed and get that taken care of form and hopefully it comes through. I went in that building with the Economic Development Committee when. Did you go on tour? Yeah, that's it. Going on tour is actually interesting, isn't it? You get to see and they can explain what they are trying to do, what they want to do. And then you get to go back at the end and see what's been accomplished. This will be the first one, I think, that I will get to have seen from start to finish, because some of the other ones I was there when they were done. So when I got in. But yeah, it's neat to see those old buildings and what the architecture and how they used to build things. But yeah, it'll be interesting. And they've got a great idea. And the guy's a super nice guy and his wife that are doing it. And they want to do some of the restoration of the facade, the front to get it back to a little more historic. Yep. So we wish them well on the grant application. We do. One way or another, the city is still working and supporting them with the downtown incentive fund and their efforts, because they're going to continue to move forward with it, whether they secure the main street grant or not. Yeah. It's nice to have a competitive application. It is. And I'll tell you if I could one second too on, because I got a call on it yesterday from a citizen. But a lot of the downtown buildings are looking nice. They've done a lot to the facades. And the one that sticks out, which I didn't notice until someone called me about it yesterday, and I drove by as the Boone Community Theater Building. And I know they have limited funds. So if there's anybody out there that wants to help them out, that would be nice to get that one done too. But I know it takes a lot of money. At least a lot of money. And they are a nonprofit. And they're a nonprofit. So be nice to continue to keep plugging away with that. I know they've got good displays in the windows and everything, using the inside and outside both. That's a pretty sizable chunk. One of the other things that came up and was presented was out at the Family Resource Center. Adult A no longer situated out there. The question is, what can be done to that space? What should be done to the space? And a grant application had been pursued. It was not eligible, unfortunately. Would have really covered a lot of the costs for doing a lot of retrofitting. But so the question is, should the council be looking at this or not? Brenda Dreyer on hand, Economic Development, Boone County Economic Growth Corporation, and just really asked for some time to maybe approach some people and see if we couldn't put together a project. Yeah, looking at, she's going to go talk to some of the private sector and see if anyone would be willing to help out. And that's to expand for the daycare that's out there. So right now, that's how much, I don't know what the exact square footage is out there that we're not being utilized. So therefore, we're not getting any rental income on that to help pay for utilities and so forth. So, but if they expand, it's good for them and it's good for us and it's good for the city or the community with the more daycare. So constantly looking at what you're going to need. That's not a cheap makeover, so. No, it's not. It's roughly about 350,000. 50,000, yep. Couple of the council members going, should we and why would we want to? It is the city-owned building, however, that's the question, so. We tabled it for now, it'll, Brenda will do her work and get back to us. See what happens. Yep. I want to, well, guide you back to some of your infrastructure projects. One that'll be coming up, that's going to be the Hancock Drive Water Tower. I think you have a few people that are slightly hesitant on the estimate of that too. Again, pretty substantial project, all part of the DAISY project. This one in particular, tied directly to it. Yep, and that, again, it's, and I don't want to hammer on SEH, the engineering firm, but they came back, their estimate, and we didn't know, they didn't give us enough information. It didn't, it included the water tower. Not the piping, not the pump, to get the water in, it was just the water tower. And it's like, we need to know everything with it. That one kind of, that one hurt too. It's, I don't know, I'm frustrated on that. We've got things to take care of there and clean up. That's another one of them. Let me see one of the other things that came up. Oh, and this one's pretty simple, but over the last couple of meetings, you guys have been redoing, I think it took about a month and a half almost to get it done, almost maybe two months, but to change your urban renewal area, which again, had to do with the county in Fairway, working on that freezer project and wanting to do a tax income and finance project. The city had done one previously for Fairway out there with the county's approval. And still had that, so we had to get that change taken off, and now they're gonna do one, but it's within two miles, so the city needs to sign off on it too. Which we knew was gonna happen. Right, that's pretty much an automatic there. That was a given, yep. And we do have someone that's gonna be coming in as an assistant finance officer. We do. Slow but sure, we're finding help for Andrea. She needs a little bit of a break. She's a bit a little busy, huh? She's working, I asked her how many hours she works, and she goes, you don't wanna know, I go, you're right, I don't wanna know. No, you don't wanna know. Because I'll drive by Saturday and Sunday and see her truck there. Yeah, we've gotta get her help, I'm good. And I know she's been looking for a finance officer person. I think she might have some interviews coming up, so wish her well on that, I know. We talked a long time after the meeting last night, and it's hard to find applicants that are qualified to do that job, so we're slowly trying to get there. We might have to break it up into smaller, like three or four jobs instead of one, but we'll figure it out. Again, the big issue has been, you have so much going on with different grants and projects and things like that. It gets almost overwhelming. It does, I don't know why she's, how she's still kicking on that. I mean, I feel so bad for her. We've gotta get some help in there, and she's trying, she's got a group that helps her with interviews and stuff, so. We'll get there, again, it's another, it's gonna take some time, but we'll get there. We did have a couple of ordinances. These came out of the, well, last council meeting, I think it was, when the public safety had been approached by a couple of different things, so one of them was the traffic up there by you, West Fifth Street area, Jefferson, and you had a person that had some visual impairment and definitely wanted to see a little traffic control, and so it's not four-way stop, it's a two-way stop, but it should slow things down a little bit. It should, yep, so hopefully that. First reading on that, and the other one is downtown, it's gonna be relocating a handicap parking space. There'll be one in front of the livery instead of across the street next to Elite's new building, which, and that was always an issue because the handicap sign was so high. Nobody could see it. Nobody could see it, and they'd park there, and they'd get a ticket for parking in a handicap, so that one's gonna go away, and it'll be right across street there in front of the livery, and there's already an access into the curb there. Much more usable. Yep, that'll be a good move. Other things that came up last night, outside of, I think, you know, Waylon did give you guys a kind of a brief overview of city-wide cleanup coming up, and information will be coming out. Yep. It sounded, at least from the council, was pretty comfortable with what was put out there. Yep, we've got some. Or what's gonna be sent out. Put together, sent out, everybody'll see it, it's in October, I was just looking at the dates again, the week of October 4th and October 11th, is what it's planned for as of right now, so I think that'll be when it is, but there's a nice little, you'll get it in your water bill and everywhere else, you can find city information, excuse me, but it'll tell you what we'll take, what we won't take, there's appliance pickup things where you can drop different things off, and obviously there's fees with some of it, but no, it's pretty well put together, and I think it'll be good. And specifically, it's identifying things that will not be picked up. Correct. And council, I think, is pretty well saying, if you're not gonna pick it up, don't be picking it up. Right, yep. Because that happened in the past, we feel bad for them, we pick it up, and then some people just keep doing that. Well, if it's not acceptable this year, we're not picking it up, and then it's gotta go, or you're gonna. I find another way. Yep. So that'll be going on. The other one, downtown green space, gray ball working on that, and now it's just a matter of weather and getting it done. Right, yes. If you go by there, the steel structure's up, or going up part of it. Yeah, hopefully that doesn't take too long either, so get it ready for the, or I think it's the last one. We have one more. One more Friday night on the green. Yep. And then Puffer. And then Puffer, yep, that's right. So we'll hopefully use it for both of those. So we did have, again, this would be coming up before your next meeting, but of course, Farm Progress Show. I know PD did put out information yesterday about potential traffic related issues for the city. Want people to pay attention, especially after noon on the south side of town. And you're going, well, it starts early in the morning, but inbound traffic's a little different. When they're all leaving, then it really gets congested. Right, yeah. So that's, again, especially at Corporal Sneddon and then Crown Flare, those areas in particular. Yep. Plan ahead. Plan ahead, exactly. All right. Otherwise, just getting ready to move. Oh yeah, I know the one topic that came up is going to public safety. Yep. Electric scooters and bikes and things like that. I know Madrid was looking at it at their meeting and it looks like you guys will be too. We want to be proactive. We don't want to wait. I know there's already been a few accidents with some injuries and we don't want anything to be major, so I would put a plea out there again to parents and grandparents. Teach your kids the rules of the road that's, you know, they're flying and some of them are blowing through stop signs and so forth. And we do not want that horrible accident. So we want to get that taken care of. We don't want to give kids tickets, but yeah, we don't want the worst alternative either. We want, we want, we want safety is our main thing for that. All right, yeah. Once again, Mayor Dave Cassotti on our program today. Thanks for coming in, joining us. And next up, council meeting, by the way, the next regular council meeting is going to be on Labor Day. It is. It is going to be on the holiday and it'll be at City Hall and planning six o'clock in the evening. Yeah, we had some conflicts. We couldn't move it to Tuesday, so. And you got super nationals that week too. Yeah, that's. Yay. There's never a dull moment, Jim. Keeps right on going, doesn't it? Yep. Vice-City Boone Mayor, our guest today at our Toon Veein program. Thanks for joining us. Thanks, Jim.