City selects broker for Shelby Road property sale

Poplar Bluff City Council members on Monday selected an auditing firm to serve the city in 2021, a real estate agent to sell city-owned property, and agreed to reduce the speaking time allotted during meeting public comment periods.

The city and Municipal Utilities will use the firm Beussink, Hey, Roe and Stroder of Jackson in the next audit year. The city’s previous auditor, Kraft, Miles and Tatem, is no longer doing municipal audits, city manager Matt Winters has said previously.

The cost will be approximately $72,000. The firm was selected from the three which submitted bids for the project.

Officials also received two submissions from area real estate brokers to represent the city in the sale of approximately 30 acres of property located along the south and west sides of Shelby Road.

The property is part of land purchased for construction of a new police department.

Poplar Bluff Realty was selected to provide the service, based on scoring of proposals done by Winters, a member of the Poplar Bluff Police Department and a member of the Poplar Bluff Parks and Recreation Department. United Country Realty also submitted a proposal.

The broker will now put together a marketing plan to sell the property, Winters said. The broker will receive 5% of the sale price, or 4% of the sale price if all of the property goes to one buyer, Winters said.

The property will be put out for sealed bids, Winters explained.

In other business, the council also reduced the amount of time residents have to address the council during the public comment period at the beginning of each meeting.

Each resident previously had 10 minutes and will now have 5 minutes. The public comment period will also be limited to a maximum of one hour.

In the city manager’s report, Winters said, the city received a thank you from electric cooperative for Municipal Utilities assistance with repairs following Hurricane Delta. Five linemen with the city responded to help with repairs.

The city will not provide a leaf pick up program this year, Winters said. The city does have a leaf disposal site where residents can bring their leaves Monday through Friday, as well as two Saturdays in November and two Saturdays in December.

Mayor pro tem Steve Davis was absent.