Hey neighbors! 

I know several of you have contacted me in the last week asking what the deal is with the black and green truck that has been around the village which has been hooking up to the fire hydrants, so let’s look at what we know so far. 

I had first noticed the truck parked to the east of my home on E. 1st Street on Tuesday. On Wednesday, May 15th, I saw the truck again. 

Then again on Thursday.

And then again on Friday, though I was not able to get a picture myself.

This truck that has been around, at least from the pictures I was able to garner, is from Luecke Brothers Trucking and when the DOT number is looked up, the company is located out of Saint Charles, Missouri. There is no way to discern if this truck has been putting something into the water or taking water out without contacting them. With that being said though, there has been no mention of any sort of agreement for granting access to our water supply nor any major treatment as the water report during the May 7th Regular Meeting stated that the water was absent of contaminants but there was no mention of any major treatment requirements.

On Monday, I was in and out of the village doing all the things that mothers do and while I had looked at the window of the office multiple times as is easy to do from the stop sign on E. 2nd and Main, there were no notices. Only the pictures I had taken the day before. 

However, yesterday my partner stopped at the office to get pictures of the minutes that should have been posted for the May 7th meetings as it has been ten days since the meeting. There were no minutes posted in the hallway where they typically are on the bulletin board, but there was this posted in the window. 

Yet another spontaneous Emergency Meeting.

The only actual agenda item reads as “5. Discussion, consider, and vote on appropriate action to take regarding water tanks being filled using Village of Alvo hydrants.”

This is interesting as the notice was not there when I left the village that evening at approximately 4:40PM yet the notice for the June 7th meeting has clearly been moved up from where it was located taped on the cardboard on May 19th. According to the agenda, the meeting occurred that evening at 8:00PM so this was an Emergency meeting that had been given a few hours notice, at best and if there was notice provided at all. 

What’s even more interesting is that while state statute requires that minutes for emergency minutes be posted for public inspection the next business day (§84-1413.7c). As of this posting, there is still nothing posted in the office regarding May 7th meetings nor this emergency meeting. Nor are they posted on the village’s shiny new website, though the Regular Meeting is posted which is a contradiction as the website states minutes are to be posted after they have been voted in. It even has the village’s seal of approval. The Special Meeting on May 7th isn’t even listed on that site. Minutes are to be posted ten working days according to §84-1413.5.

Violating the Open Meetings Act is becoming quite the modus operandi for Alvo’s Board of Trustees.

I know there are laws and/or ordinances dictating how “sharing” water or even giving notice that outside sources are tapping into our water supply is to be handled but frankly, there hasn’t been enough time in a day for me to keep digging into it. Yet – of course I’ll stay curious enough to continue researching. Voting for the previous meeting’s minutes was not on the agenda, unless they added it as an emergency item to an emergency meeting of something that… 

Isn’t changing. This picture was taken this afternoon just before 2:00 PM. Even more interesting is the fact that our water systems aren’t sustainable for the current community. Other residents have expressed concerns that this is going to increase our water rates which remains to be seen.

I’m often reminded of Vice Chair Cathina Schueth’s own words just before she was elected in November of 2022. “I’d love to see the Board of Trustees follow the laws, rules, and regulations set in place just once.”

I suppose we’ll keep waiting for that day. Until then, keep asking questions. I’ll dig as much as I can but when there is no transparency from our Board of what is going on, well, there is only so much I can do. If you yourself ask questions and get any answers, you’re welcome to contact me at editor@villageofalvo.com so that everyone can be in the know. 

That’s it for now, folks. Be sure to subscribe to stay up to date and wave hello to your neighbors.