ROODHOUSE ADDRESSING issue of ‘mini-homes’

By Editor | November 2, 2025 |

By Carmen Ensinger

The Roodhouse City Council addressed the issue of the placement of ‘mini-homes’ within the city at their Oct. 22 regular city council meeting.
“There have been a lot of people wanting to move these little homes into town lately,” Public Works Supervisor Terry Ross said. “I thought I needed something in ordinance form to go by regarding them.”
The mini-homes in question and predominantly the small Mennonite sheds that people buy and place on their property.
Mayor Jim Riley agreed with Ross.
“You are right, it does need to be regulated or it will be abused,” he said. “We can pull all of our appropriate ordinances and then have an informed discussion about it.”
Ross said that since these buildings are not subject to any sewer or electrical codes, they can be pretty dangerous.
“There is a lot of risk for citizens living in them,” Ross said. “Most cities have ordinances precluding portable buildings being used as homes. We have turned down four or five in the last year alone.”
The council was under the impression that there were already ordinances in place for this issue so the item was tabled for now.
City Treasurer Amy Hacker said the property and liability insurance annual renewal was coming up and she thought the council should be aware of how much it is going to be for the coming year. This year the insurance is going to cost the city $119,653, which includes a one percent installment fee because the city doesn’t pay it in one lump sum.
“Last year we went over the property inventory at the water department and found some things not included,” Hacker said. “I think that is why it increased this year.”
Hacker advised the city to pay the premium in 10 monthly installments of approximately $12,000 a month, a big increase over the $7.700 they are paying now. Hacker explained why the big jump in the monthly cost.
“Last year we made a large $35,000 payment in November and then made the monthly payments,” Hacker said. “But since they are not going to give us a break, why not just split the whole amount over the 10 months.”
Also discussed was the city’s health insurance, which is also up for renewal.
“Since it is such a large expenditure, we hired a third party broker to come up with the best deals for us,” Hacker said. “We are up for renewal in late November or early December.”
Currently, the city is paying $15,993 on the current plan and if the city stays with that plan, the premium is going up 19 percent next year which would mean the monthly payments would increase to $18,505.
Hacker said that two companies, Allstate and United Health Care, have yet to submit their quotes but she isn’t very optimistic they will be in the running.
“United Health Care wasn’t even competitive last year and Allstate is probably out of our league,” she said. “We don’t have to make a decision tonight so you have some time to look over the figures.”
The council approved the purchase of two fire hydrants and line stops at a cost of $17,462.
“We have quite a few hydrants in the city that are bad and we are just now starting to get a couple of those at a time replaced,” Ross said. “At last count, we have 22 of them that need fixed and I would like to start changing out a few of those every month.”
Ross also requested the purchase of 12 new stop signs and posts stating that they are missing some, some are bent and some of the older ones are just no longer any good. The council approved the purchase of the signs and posts at a cost of $2,339.60.
One item on the agenda was to approve the cleaning of well no. 3 at a cost of $22,540. However, Ross reminded the council that before the well could be cleaned, they would have to get well no. 4 back online.
Brotke Well and Pump is currently in the process of rebuilding the pump and motor at well no. 4 at a cost of $25,809. Ross said they need to pay the invoice for well no. 4 and get it back online before they consider cleaning well no. 3.
Because the invoice for well no. 4 was not on the agenda, the council had to have a consensus vote, which passed.
The council discussed the possibility of renting the ground near the water plant to Zach Dahman to farm. Mayor Riley explained that Dahman’s family farms and he wants to branch out on his own and his looking for ground to farm.
Ross said that it was not a good idea to farm the ground near the water plant. In fact, when the previous tenant stopped farming the ground it was decided not to farm it anymore.
“Right now we have grass in there that doesn’t take chemicals and our nitrates have come down a little,” he said. “Farmers who put crops in use chemicals and in the past have gone right up to the building. We decided it wasn’t worth the risk of raising our nitrate levels.”
Mayor Riley said he would call Dahman the next day and tell him the answer was no to farming the ground.
The council approved an ordinance prohibiting campers in certain areas. The ordinance limits campers to designated areas on city property.
The need for the ordinance concerns campers being placed uptown and it has become a health issue with people defecating on the square. This ordinance will prevent that from happening.
A motion was approved to raise the pay for part time officers to $23 per hour by Alderman Steve Speeks, former police chief of Roodhouse.
“I’m bringing this up because the word is the training board, who certifies police officers is going to move towards the status of certified or non-certified,” Speeks said. “Every officer is required to have the same certifications and since they are part-time, they are required to keep up with their training out of their own pocket.
“That being said, a lot of agencies around here are raising their pay to try to keep the guys they have listed as part time. The training board wants to get away from part time – now it is either certified or non-certified.”
Speeks said that White Hall just went to $22 an hour for their part-time officers.
“That is basically what a starting full time comes in at,” Speeks said. “In order to keep good, qualified guys, I would be fair to bring our part-time guys up to $23. We have 8 to 10 part time officers.”
The part-time officers keep full-time officers from having to do extra shifts at time and half which essentially saves the city money.
The council approved the purchase of new computers for the entire city.
“Microsoft is no longer supporting Windows 10 as of Oct. 15, which means that any security incidents they won’t send out patches for so we are going to have to replace all of our computers with Windows 11,” Hacker said. “Matt Martin gave us a quote of $355 for a refurbished Dell computer with a three year warranty.”
Martin gave a quote of $4,135 for 11 computers and labor. However, Hacker said they only need 10. The council approved the purchase of the 10 computers, not to exceed $4,000.