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.
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