Board of Alderman Meeting 10/13/26
Published 3:24 pm Tuesday, October 20, 2026
The Board of Aldermen hosted a work session on Tuesday, Oct. 15 to further discuss many issues brought up in previous meetings.
To start, Dr. Tim Declue spoke about the Cy-Ped committee updates. The Cy-Ped committee consists of school staff, local bicyclists and financial advisors focused on improving walking and cycling trails and infrastructure in Bolivar.
Dr. Declue proposed a total of 37 signs along various trails in the Bolivar Area, allowing for more direction for users and proper marking of each trail. As well as this, he proposed plans for wider sidewalks and new trails in the area.
Following this discussion, Thomas Relford gave an update on the mural on the Frisco Highline bridge. Relford is proposing having the mural split into four different sections, allowing local businesses to sponsor each section and lower the cost for the city. Relford brought multiple artists to the Board for the mural.
Discussion centered around picking a cost-effective artist that specialized in Murals and had a portfolio showing their expertise. The Board voted to move forward with the project and will continue seeking artists and funding for the project.
In earlier meetings, the Board discussed the The Civic Plus Recreation software contract. As of today, the year-long contract auto-renewed at a rate increase of 21 percent compared to the previous contract. The Board decided going forward to make sure they are aware of all contract renewals with sufficient time to review and discuss the contract.
Fire chief Brent Watkins asked the board to consider Artificial Intelligence uses and explained how the use of Artificial Intelligence can speed up some work processes. Chief Watkins addressed privacy issues for confidential data, but believes that with specific guidelines Artificial Intelligence can be useful. For example, Community Development Director Kyle Lee was able to pull publicly available codes and review compliances for current issues. He insisted that they still have to oversee it and make corrections, but it can make the initial review and research process more efficient.
Chief Watkins proposed to the Board a renewal of the Rave Mobile Safety software, an automatic notification system for severe weather conditions. Watkins believes the software is important, as 1200 citizens use it as of right now. The Board approved a five year renewal of their contract with Rave Mobile Safety.
The Bolivar Police Department Chief Christopher Johns communicated the statistics for the Police Department and his goals for staffing. His initial phase one target was having 18 employees on patrol, with future targets being 20 employees. As of today, they have a minimum staffing of two officers. According to Chief Johns, many calls require two officers, which would impede them from being able to respond to other calls.
Alderman Dusty Ross asked if the Department would be able to add an additional resource officer to Bolivar Schools. Chief Johns believes that he will be able to do that in the future, but he is still focused on filling current vacancies in staff and hitting his targets of how many officers he has in the field.
Chief Johns and the Police Department insist they are focused on ensuring that their time is used well, and they are working with the appropriate systems to get data that will help them improve in these areas.
