Snowstorm cost Perryville $20,000

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Perryville spent just over $20,000 to clear its streets in the wake of a Jan. 5 snowstorm, city administrator Brent Buerck told the board of aldermen Tuesday night.

Buerck said workers spread 125 tons of salt in their efforts to make the roads passable.

Severe weather also has hampered leaf collection this winter, Buerck said. Jan. 17 was to be the last day for leaf pickup, but the city postponed it to this Friday.

Also on Tuesday, the board:

* Honored several city employees for their service. The board issued tenure awards to Brenda Ochs and Verlin Vernon for 35 years of service; Direk and Vickie Hunt for 25 years; Jeremy Meyer for 20 years; Jon Lanier for 15 years; Timothy Huber and Bradley Pitts for 10 years; and Kevin Buchheit, Linda Chappius, Michael Chitwood and Anthony Marler for five years.

* Approved a request to give Perry Park Center passes to police reserve officers.

* Approved a request from Carisa Stark and Jamie Brown to hold a five-kilometer "Polar Beer Run" on March 8.

* Reviewed a proposal to establish or modify zoning policies for microbreweries and microdistilleries and special-use requests for tattoo parlors.

* Heard a report from assistant city attorney Mary Boner on the outcome of a federal class-action lawsuit against more than 280 Missouri cities -- including Perryville -- that stemmed from confusion over taxes on wireless services.

Federal court documents show the cities received a settlement after suing several wireless companies for failure to pay business license taxes.

According to court documents, AT&T mistakenly included wireless Internet service -- which is tax-exempt -- in calculating its share of the settlement, the cost of which it passed along to customers.

The plaintiffs claimed cities violated their rights by failing to pay them back after the error came to light.

On Jan. 13, Judge Nanette Laughrey ruled in favor of the cities, although Boner said the plaintiffs still could appeal the judgment.

epriddy@semissourian.com

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Perryville, MO