Macon Public Works Board delays 2027 budget vote after staff remove Conagra plant revenue

The Macon Board of Public Works meeting November 9, 2026.

The Macon Board of Public Works put off a vote on its 2027 budget Monday after a utility official said staff had removed revenue from Conagra's primary plant from the projections, and a board member called for cuts of 5 to 15 percent in every fund.

The official said a revised budget book takes charges for services and electric and gas commodity revenue for the primary plant out of the numbers, but leaves in a storage site and a Conagra store on Birch Street, and includes a five-year history of that customer's 10 utility accounts. Asked whether the removed revenue reached into the millions, the official said it did altogether. No figure was given.

Conagra Brands told employees Monday it intends to close its Macon plant Jan. 15, 2027, the Chronicle reported.

Citing older figures, a board member said a 5 percent cut in the electric fund would turn it positive by $52,000 and that travel and anything else that can come out of the 2027 budget should be reviewed. Utility staff said they would start with discretionary spending and go through each capital item, keeping "only the things that are critical and have to be done." Everything else will be deferred, staff said.

Board members set a budget workshop for 1 p.m. Monday, Nov. 23, and a meeting to approve the budget at 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 30. Memorandums of understanding for 2027 with Laddonia, Fredericktown, and the solar farm wait on the budget because each includes budget items, staff said.

A City Council member attending the meeting said the utility's human resources consulting contract with Ascension Human Capital Management is invalid because the mayor never signed it.

"But the mayor hasn't signed it, so it's an invalid contract," the council member said.

The dispute came up under an agenda item on updating the personnel manual, which the city and the utility share. No vote was needed, staff said. Changes go through a committee of the city administrator, city clerk, general manager, and controller, then to the mayor, the board, and the City Council, according to staff. The manual was last updated in 2023.

The board approved the Ascension contract July 28 for $30,000 over 12 months, paid at $2,500 a month, on a 4-0 vote, according to the board's minutes. Staff told the board Monday the contract has been signed and submitted and was approved through the council. Ascension has been paid for the invoices it has submitted, staff said, but no one at the table had the total.

The council member said $30,000 is well above the limit on what the mayor can sign, though the exact threshold was unclear, and asked whether the city's only benefit is the updated manual, since no city employees take part in the trainings. Staff said that was their understanding.

"I raised concerns about this from the beginning," the council member said.

Staff read the purchasing policy, which requires formal sealed bids for items over $15,000 unless the council or the board takes special action. The council member said there were no sealed bids. Staff said the work was sought through a request for qualifications.

A board member read the board's bylaws as requiring council approval only for contracts longer than one year. Another speaker said Chapter 18 of the city code requires contracts to go to the council and be signed by the mayor, and said the bylaws appear to conflict with it.

"This has nothing to do with the Board of Public Works. This is a contract," the council member said.

An audience member who said they were there as a citizen then criticized the board. "You guys can't answer questions about eighty million dollars of bond issues," the audience member said. Macon voters approved up to $80 million in water and sewer revenue bonds Nov. 3, the Chronicle reported.

The board's presiding officer said staff should look into the question and report back to the council member, saying the argument was "not accomplishing anything here."

The board referred ending its Veenstra & Kimm contract to the City Council, asking for permission to terminate it. The Chronicle reported Monday the termination was on the board's agenda. Staff said a key member of the firm's team is no longer with the firm, and the utility would issue a new request for qualifications if it picks another consultant.

The council member asked for a list of payments to Veenstra & Kimm and to D.A. Davidson. Staff said no money has been paid to D.A. Davidson and the utility has no binding contract or agreement with the firm. The board voted 4-0 on May 27, 2025, to hire D.A. Davidson as financial advisor for possible bonds, the Chronicle reported in August.

Earlier, the board voted to send the City Council a multipurpose fund grant application for a drinking water resiliency study. The application was on the board's Sept. 22 agenda, the Chronicle reported, and staff said Monday the council asked the board to review the full document first.

Staff said the study would be 100 percent grant funded and the worst case for the utility would cost nothing. A board member questioned language on page 41 saying water from Long Branch Lake could serve Macon and Randolph counties. Staff said the language is not a commitment to supply water there and any future customer would pay all capital costs.

In June, the board approved a Veenstra & Kimm contract amendment that included $294,660 to prepare a resiliency study if the utility did not get multipurpose fund money, according to the minutes.

The board approved an $18,000 contribution to Macon County Ministries for 2026, the same amount as in 2025. As of last week the ministry had pledged $14,425 back onto customer utility accounts, according to staff.

Staff also said city officials told them the council may move the end of board members' terms from Dec. 31 to June 30. The water plant has been fully staffed since Oct. 6, and a longtime employee retires Dec. 18, staff said.