Welch resigns from Hannibal City Council, cites busy personal life as reason

UPDATE: This article has been updated to reflect new comments from Colin Welch given after the article’s original publication on Jan. 7, 2025.

HANNIBAL — Colin Welch resigned from his position as 5th Ward Council member on the Hannibal City Council at the body’s first meeting of the new year Tuesday night. 

Though he wasn’t present at the meeting, Welch later stated his reason for resignation was to take more time for his family and business. He is one of the owners of American Glass & Overhead Door, a family business his father started in the mid-80s.

“There’s just a lot going on in my personal life,” Welch said in a phone interview Wednesday morning.

Advocating for the city’s marina and the GAC (Granular Activated Carbon) Water Treatment Facility were his biggest contributions to the council, the now-former council member said.

Welch unseated incumbent Gordon Ipson in 2017  — less than a year after Ipson had been appointed to the position by the council — during a special runoff election with a voter turnout of less than ten percent. 

One of six council member seats is now vacant. Welch’s term was not set to expire until next year. 

Hannibal City Clerk Melissa Cogdal said the city will accept letters of interest from citizens of the 5th Ward. Applicants who meet the necessary criteria and verification will be invited to interview with the council, which will then vote on the appointment of a candidate to serve until Hannibal voters decide on a new member in the next municipal election.

The council heard the first reading of a list of ordinances that would allow voters to consider various amendments to the city’s charter regarding the oversight of the Hannibal Board of Public Works, which “is responsible for electric, water, sewer, and stormwater maintenance” throughout the city.

“All I’m asking of you guys is that we put this on the ballot in April and let the voters decide if they want more oversight (on the Board of Public Works) or if they do not want more oversight,” Mayor Barry Louderman said. “So what I’m asking you tonight is to do what I feel our job is: to put this in front of the public and let them vote.”

Pending approval of the council to place the amendment propositions on the ballot (which will be voted upon by the council at its next meeting on Jan. 21), constituents will be asked to vote on the amendments during a municipal election on Apr. 8:

• to require that the Board of Public Works give a 60-day notice to the council of salary increases to its employees;
• to require that the Board of Public Works give a 60-day notice to the council of its proposed budget;
• to require that the Board of Public Works give a 60-day notice to the council of utility rate increases;
• to change the number of votes needed from the council to remove a member of the Board of Public Works from five to four;
• and to require that the Board of Public Works meets with the council at their request on various matters that affect the citizens of Hannibal.

3rd Ward Council Member Robert Koehn doesn’t have a problem with keeping better tabs on the Board of Public Works, but he did voice concerns about changing the number of council votes needed to remove one of its members. 

“Anytime you go before any organization to try and impeach somebody, it’s by more than a simple majority, so I have a problem with lowering that right now from five to four,” Koehn said. “It should be harder to impeach somebody. That is my opinion.”

Louderman said the details of the ordinances could be worked out. Putting the matters to a vote by the people would simply create an opportunity for the process of facilitating changes to anything regarding the Board of Public Works to be simplified.

“Right now, anything that gets changed with the Board of Public Works is a charter change,” Louderman said.

The city of Hannibal operates under a home rule charter, which gives more autonomy to local governments and their constituents than more commonly utilized structures. One result of this increased autonomy is a lengthy and highly tedious process for making changes, as constituent participation and input is often involved at multiple stages. Modifying ordinances, by contrast, is usually more straightforward, as matters are generally voted on by a designated governing body.

The council also approved a resolution to allow Louderman to execute a district house lease between U.S. Congressman Sam Graves (R-MO, 6th District) and the City of Hannibal for office space at the Hannibal Regional Airport. The congressman will be charged $150 per month for the space through January 2027.

CORRECTION: Original publication of this article referenced an article in the Herald-Whig from 2003 that stated Colin Welch served in Iraq in the early 2000s as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. The Colin Welch of Hannibal referenced in that article was a different Colin Welch of Hannibal; former 5th Ward Council Member Colin Welch is not an Army veteran and has never been to war. We apologize for this mistake.