NEW BLOOMFIELD - The New Bloomfield Board of Aldermen was split Monday evening on whether to opt for chip seal or asphalt overlay on a road project.
The board gathered in the New Bloomfield Elementary School cafeteria - its usual meeting spot at New Bloomfield City Hall is too small to allow for social distancing.
At the last meeting, the board opted for a chip seal. Mayor Terry Shaw told the board that contractor for the project advised the city do an overlay instead - a more expensive but higher-quality option.
It came to a vote, with members Michael Lowe and Rosemary Augustine voting yes to an overlay and Gary Hoelscher and Dan Kliethermes voting no. Shaw broke the tie with a yes vote.
After the vote, Hoelscher said he didn't like switching from the chip seal plan discussed at the last meeting.
In other business, Augustine updated the board on the second phase of Callaway County's federal CARES Act distribution.
The county has set aside $1.5 million for mitigation efforts, inviting small businesses, nonprofits, schools and municipal governments to apply for funds to pay for 80 percent of expenses such as touch-free towel dispensers and facets in bathrooms.
"The question is for us as a city, do we want to install any of those devices in our city hall, knowing that we'd have to pay the remaining 20 percent?" Augustine said.
The board acknowledged the city building doesn't get much foot traffic.
"The only reason to do those would be that somebody's paying 80 percent of the bill," Shaw said.
The board decided against applying for the county CARES funds.
The board's next meeting is scheduled Aug. 24, location to be determined.