The Reporter newspaper, Camdenton Missouri

The Reporter covers Miller, Morgan and Camden County in Central Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks and is published once per week on Wednesdays.

Published September 13, 2017

Two bills fail, smoking ordinance debated again

OSAGE BEACH – It’s unusual that the Board of Aldermen will say no to a bill that is brought before them but last week they did just that – twice – and neither bill had a chance.

The first failure came with Bill Number 17-64: “An Ordinance of the City of Osage Beach, Missouri, authorizing the Mayor to execute contract OB17-018 with Vance Brothers for the Parkway West Micro-Surfacing.”

Nicholas Edelman, Public Works Director, explained the project in his report to the board.

“This project is to Micro Seal Osage Beach Parkway West of the Grand Glaize Bridge…The City has been trying to improve the maintenance of Osage Beach Parkway after accepting it from MoDOT. The citizens and business owners commented during the Osage Beach Parkway West Study that they would like the roadway maintained. We have increased the mowing on the parkway this year. This project is the next step we planned on taking in terms of maintenance. Microseals generally last 5 to 7 years. We have had good luck with seal coats in the past.”

A discussion began on the difference in micro-sealing and slurry seal with micro-sealing a step above a regular slurry seal, a city spokesman told the board. The project would cost the city $301,098 which would come out of a city budget line item that has $651,217.12 available.

Alderman Kevin Rucker eventually made the motion to approve the bill and then silence followed. None of the board members seconded the motion and the bill died on the floor. No explanation was given as to why it did not pass.

The second bill to be killed by the board was Bill Number 17-66 “An ordinance of the City of Osage Beach, Missouri, authorizing the Mayor to execute a contract with JCI Industries, Inc., for pump rebuilding services.”

Eric Hibdon, Public Works Supervisor, explained the situation to the board.

“This is for rebuilding the city’s larger pumps as we currently are rebuilding smaller pumps in house. There were two vendors that submitted qualification statements and they were reviewed with JCI Industries Inc being selected as the most qualified. The contract is a multi-year contract with renewals on annual basis. It is a cost plus contract due to the fact that it is unknown what is wrong with each individual pump. JCI Industries will be required to evaluate the pump and provide a cost estimate of what it will take to repair. We would like the ability to spend up to $45,000 for pump repairs this year.”

Another discussion was held asking certain details about the pumps and the status of backup pumps. A motion and a second was made for the first reading of the bill but when the vote was taken, only two voted for the bill and the other four aldermen voted no. Since the first reading did not pass there was no second reading and the bill dies.

The board did, however, approve several other bills last week.

A public hearing was held regarding a rezoning request by Lakeshore Holdings and Development, LLC, to rezone 14 acres from A-1 (agriculture) to C-1b (commercial lodging).

The property is located 2,000 feet from Osage Beach Pkwy on Sunset Dr.

“The prospective buyer of the property plans to build nightly rental facilities on the subject land that will take advantage of its location relative to the Backwater Jacks Lakefront Restaurant and Entertainment Venue,” Cary Patterson, City Planner told the board.

One resident spoke during the public hearing and questioned the city several times asking if they have given this request the same scrutiny as other properties that have been rezoned in the city.

After the lengthy questioning, Mayor John Olivarri assured the resident that the same process is used for all property rezoning requests and since this is only the first reading of the bill the resident can contact city official before the next meeting and attempt to get all his questions answered.

The board passed the first reading unanimously.

In other business at last week’s board of aldermen meeting:

• Approved the first reading only of the Tax Increment Financing Redevelopment Agreement between the city and TSG Osage Beach, LLC, for the Osage Beach Commons Tax Increment Financing Redevelopment Plan.

(Tax Increment Financing [TIF] is a mechanism for providing funds in economically depressed areas. TIF programs are designed to use the increased property tax revenues generated by an urban development [the tax increment] to pay for the public costs of that development.)

Customers pay a higher tax in retail stores located in TIF areas as opposed to stores outside the TIF zone. The second reading should be at the next Board of Aldermen meeting in September.

• Approved the first reading of a cooperative agreement between the city and the Arrowhead Centre Community Improvement District, and Arrowhead Development Group, LLC.

“This ordinance will approve the Cooperative Agreement among the City, the Arrowhead Center Community Improvement District, and the Arrowhead Development Group, LLC (“Developer”), to provide for the implementation of the CID. The City has majority control of the CID Board of Directors. The City and Developer have discussed extensively the unique arrangement for the operation of this CID and the flow of CID revenues. The City’s Finance Department will control the bank account into which the CID revenues will be deposited by the Department of Revenue,” City Attorney Ed Rucker said in the report to the board on this bill.

(A CID is a separate legal entity distinct and apart from the municipality or county that creates the district. As such, the CID can impose real property taxes, business license taxes and special assessments within the district, which go for improvements within the district and to reimburse the developer for the project.)

• Approved the public works department staff to work on the Dorothy Lane Roadway improvements for the Osage Beach Special Road District.

Dorothy Lane is a private road off of Sunset Drive and according to the city, residents of that street have asked the Osage Beach Special District for assistance. The residents of Dorothy Lane would like the street to be turned over to the city when the project is done.

• Approved the purchase of water meters, MIU’s (radios) and appurtenances for reading meters in the amount of $54,030.
• Approved the sale of two surplus police vehicles

The board also held a discussion on a smoking ordinance. This was discussed at length in the past and Alderman Jeff Bethurem wanted to bring it up again.

Several audience members spoke in favor of a possible smoking law for the city that would restrict the sale of tobacco products – including electronic cigarettes – to minors. This was only a discussion and any ordinance would have to be brought to the city for passage at a future board meeting.