Good afternoon, everyone. Please see below for this week’s update.
Key Meetings
-On Monday, I had a meeting with James Whitford from Watered Gardens to catch up on some of the things he has been working on through the True Charity Initiative and Watered Gardens.
_Later that afternoon, Director Bolander and I met with Clifford Wert to discuss legislation that was passed in 2013 that would allow for the establishment of a museum and cultural district in Joplin, which if created, would provide a sustainable source of revenue for cultural programs and activities in the community. The legislation was originally proposed for the combined movie theater/library project at 20th and Connecticut, but even though that project will not continue in its original form, there may be other ways the legislation could benefit Joplin residents. We are doing a bit more research, but the relevant state statute is RSMO 184.800-184.880 (link: http://www.moga.mo.gov/mostatutes/stathtml/18400008001.html)
-On Tuesday, staff and I sat in on a webinar/presentation with Jon Johnson and Chris Fabian from the Center for Priority Based Budgeting, to give staff an opportunity to learn more about the priority-based budgeting process that will be considered by you at our regular meeting on September 21st .
-On Wednesday, AtCM Brian Kelly and I met with a potential intern from MSSU, for our office during the spring semester. Our current intern, Nathan Ervin, started this week and will be working on a couple of projects – developing our five-year CIP document, and he will be assisting with the implementation of the priority-based budgeting process, assuming it is adopted by the council later this month.
-On Thursday, I met with Dr. Ridder at his request, to discuss the process the school board approved at their special meeting earlier this week, and to answer some of his questions about the recovery TIF.
-Later that evening, we held the first session of our inaugural Citizens Academy, where class participants heard from Mayor Seibert, Councilman Glaze, our city attorney, city clerk, and myself as we discussed the role of council and the interaction/roles of council employees. I’d like to commend AtCM Kelly for his efforts (along with our former intern, Nelson Mwangi) in putting the session together. We received some very positive comments from participants afterward, along with a few suggestions for things to cover in future weeks as they hear from other departments about what they do within and for our community. Miscellaneous
-Attached to this report is an update from Public Works on the projects they’re working on. In addition to those listed, this week has focused around a major sanitary sewer line break in the vicinity of the Tallgrass subdivision. Repairs to the pipe were to be completed as of yesterday, but there will be some remaining work to reconstruct the tributary channel, which will take a few more days to complete.
-In other news, we received a request this week to examine speed limit variances along Connecticut Avenue and on 32nd Street. Staff will conduct a speed study on both routes and prepare a recommendation to revise any speed limits, if necessary.
-According to our planning director, it looks like there are two applications from Joplin developers that will be submitted to the Missouri Housing Development Commission for low income housing tax credits. The applications require confirmation from the city that the projects are in compliance with our consolidated plan, and with our zoning code and regulations. Both projects are in compliance, and they are: o Hampshire Landing, a 48-unit multi-family development on 20th Street o Montana Crossing, a 50-unit multi-family development on Wisconsin Ave. & Montana Place
-In addition to an update from PW, I’m also attaching the Police Department’s quarterlyreport for the 2nd quarter of 2015.
In the Pipeline
-Just a reminder that our budget work sessions have been pushed back to September 15, 16 and 17th, at 6:00 p.m. Please mark your calendars. At our regular meeting on the 8th , finance staff will distribute a copy of the “Issues & Options” workbook for your review prior to the budget work sessions. There are six issues on the list this year – 1) the annual funding request from the museum; 2) the annual funding request from the Chamber of Commerce; 3) the General Employee Request; 4) the funding request from the Joplin Sports Authority; 5) a discussion of Memorial Hall repair options, and; 6) the bi-annual user fee review. Due to these six items, I anticipate that we will need to use all three work session dates to get through everything.
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