Howdy!
The NewsLeader did a piece on Ozark's Historic Community Building today.
What are your thoughts on the Historic Community Building? A lot of groups are interested in it. Some want to protect the historical architecture, to others it holds sentimental value, and some would like to see it torn down and replaced with a modern building that could take advantage of it's prime location. It is an intersting topic, and I can honestly say I don't yet have an opinion on it yet.
My question to you: What do you think should happen to the Historic Community Building and why?
REMINDER: Community Breakfast is tomorrow morning at the Village Inn from 8 to 10. If you have any ideas for good legislation, bring them with you tomorrow. I would love to hear them.
Showing posts with label Community Breakfast. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Community Breakfast. Show all posts
Friday, June 26, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
Your Input: Audit = Money Well Spent? or Money Wasted?
This Saturday, at the community breakfast, the audit took up a large portion of our discussion. Not to mention all the attention it's been getting in the local media. As I have mentioned before, I believe the audit was well worth the money and am relieved everything is out in the open. Now, as a community, we can move forward. Also, I believe the staff has done a good job in working toward making sure the problems revealed in the audit do not continue, as was mentioned by Susan Montee.
In light of audit discussions at this Saturday's community breakfast and today's News-Leader's editorial (found here), I would like to pose the question to you, the citizen: Was the audit money well spent or money wasted?
Is there anything the city could do to show you that Ozark has changed course and is moving in the right direction?
In light of audit discussions at this Saturday's community breakfast and today's News-Leader's editorial (found here), I would like to pose the question to you, the citizen: Was the audit money well spent or money wasted?
Is there anything the city could do to show you that Ozark has changed course and is moving in the right direction?
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Special City Council Meeting
Howdy!
I was informed today that we will be having a special council meeting on Tuesday the 26th at 5:30 or 6:00. The time is not final yet, but it will probably be 5:30.
Here is the informal agenda:
1. A presentation from Darrell Gross (our outside consultant) regarding his analysis on the Downtown Redevelopment District.
2. The other items will be a MODESA meeting update from city staff and a resolution to extend the dates within the original developers agreement for another 6 months so we can continue getting all the work done that still lies ahead.
This is all the info I have so far. I have not been given a copy of the resolution, so I am not sure what it contains. I am going to city hall tomorrow, and hopefully I can get an update. I will keep you posted.
I am excited to here Darrell's presentation. From all I have heard, he sounds like a great asset to the city, and I am interested to hear his take on the project.
Be there if you can.
Reminder: Community Breakfast is Saturday 8 to 10 at the Village Inn. I hope to see you all there.
I was informed today that we will be having a special council meeting on Tuesday the 26th at 5:30 or 6:00. The time is not final yet, but it will probably be 5:30.
Here is the informal agenda:
1. A presentation from Darrell Gross (our outside consultant) regarding his analysis on the Downtown Redevelopment District.
2. The other items will be a MODESA meeting update from city staff and a resolution to extend the dates within the original developers agreement for another 6 months so we can continue getting all the work done that still lies ahead.
This is all the info I have so far. I have not been given a copy of the resolution, so I am not sure what it contains. I am going to city hall tomorrow, and hopefully I can get an update. I will keep you posted.
I am excited to here Darrell's presentation. From all I have heard, he sounds like a great asset to the city, and I am interested to hear his take on the project.
Be there if you can.
Reminder: Community Breakfast is Saturday 8 to 10 at the Village Inn. I hope to see you all there.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Community Breakfast
Howdy!!
I will be hosting my 2nd monthly Community Breakfast Saturday 23rd at the Village Inn from 8 to 10 am. The meeting will be informal, and no topic is off limits. See you there!!
I will be hosting my 2nd monthly Community Breakfast Saturday 23rd at the Village Inn from 8 to 10 am. The meeting will be informal, and no topic is off limits. See you there!!
Lowdown for the Week
Sorry I haven't blogged on any of the recent activities occurring here in our fine city. It has been a crazy week! I am going to give you the abridged version and you can follow up with any questions you have:
Friday 5/8: (okay...that's been more than a week...sry) I gave a presentation to North Elementary's 2nd grade class. My bonus kido, Karter, attends school there and his teacher, Mrs. Amstutz, asked me to speak on local government. Apparently, 2nd grade is the only grade our kids get any local government education (sad). It was a great time! You can read more here.
Later in the day, I had a meeting with developers of the Downtown Redevelopment area, Plazacorp. I spent about 3 hours with these guys looking at plans and going over numbers. The meeting was very informative and the project is impressive.
Saturday 5/16: Council Retreat at the New OC. If you haven't been to the OC, you need to go. The meeting went from 8:30 - 2ish and was jam-packed with information to help catch everyone up on what's been going on. Highlights from the retreat include: Code Enforcement, Letters of Credit, Financials, Public Safety, Parks and Rec, MS4, DNR, and my personal fav. G.I.S. You can get a play by play here.
Monday 5/18: Interview on KSGF mainly concerning Council Meeting Agenda Item Resolution 1587. This resolution dealt with the Downtown Redevelopment area and the redirection of certain tax dollars within that development area. The piece of the resolution that I took issue with was Section 2 that read:
Exhibit A included a foot note at the bottom that read:
Currently, through the TIF rules, the project will capture 100% of the new property tax, and 50% of the new sales tax generated in the redev. area. If we give the other 50% of the sales tax, that means that the sales tax for the OC, which the people voted for in 2006, would be captured in the redev. area, but would not be used for the OC. Instead it would be redirected back into the project. That is where I took issue with the resolution. Although, the resolution would not be binding, if passed, it sends a message that the city is okay with using your vote as a bargaining chip. You can hear more about my position on this resolution here. Special thanks to KSGF and Vincent David Jericho for letting me come on the show.
Later in the day, we had our city council meeting. I will be posting the video this weekend. The afore mentioned resolution was removed from the agenda by its sponsor, Mike Esterl. Since most of the Aldermen had not read the finalized version of the resolution until Saturday, I was not sure how this resolution would be handled. I was thrilled that Mike decided to do remove the Resolution all together. I think it was a good move, and shows the citizens of Ozark that the board of aldermen will be doing what is necessary to protect your tax dollars. You can read more on this decision here.
Tuesday 5/19: State Audit. Susan Montee's office did a great job on this. All I can really say is: Yes, there was some damaging stuff, but nothing fraudulent. I think the worst part was not knowing what was going on, not so much that it was going on. If that makes sense. Now that it's all out on the table, it's not such a big deal. That is the power of transparency in government. Now we know what needs to be fixed and we can all move forward, together as a community. Kudos the the City Admin. and the rest of the city staff for working hard to get many of these issue resolved already. There is a ton of press on this so just check out any of the local media websites. You can also read the entire audit here.
Let me know if you have any questions. You can post a comment or call me 417-231-1045, or send me an email melissadwagner@gmail.com.
Friday 5/8: (okay...that's been more than a week...sry) I gave a presentation to North Elementary's 2nd grade class. My bonus kido, Karter, attends school there and his teacher, Mrs. Amstutz, asked me to speak on local government. Apparently, 2nd grade is the only grade our kids get any local government education (sad). It was a great time! You can read more here.
Later in the day, I had a meeting with developers of the Downtown Redevelopment area, Plazacorp. I spent about 3 hours with these guys looking at plans and going over numbers. The meeting was very informative and the project is impressive.
Saturday 5/16: Council Retreat at the New OC. If you haven't been to the OC, you need to go. The meeting went from 8:30 - 2ish and was jam-packed with information to help catch everyone up on what's been going on. Highlights from the retreat include: Code Enforcement, Letters of Credit, Financials, Public Safety, Parks and Rec, MS4, DNR, and my personal fav. G.I.S. You can get a play by play here.
Monday 5/18: Interview on KSGF mainly concerning Council Meeting Agenda Item Resolution 1587. This resolution dealt with the Downtown Redevelopment area and the redirection of certain tax dollars within that development area. The piece of the resolution that I took issue with was Section 2 that read:
Section 2. The appropriate officers, agents and staff of the City are directed to take all actions necessary, including the execution of all necessary documents, to apply to the State of Missouri for funds pursuant to the Missouri Downtown Economic Stimulus Act pursuant to the financing plan and revenue projections as set forth on Exhibit A.
Exhibit A included a foot note at the bottom that read:
5. Captures 100% of the City's 2% sales tax through 2017, 1.75% sales tax through 2026 and 1.375% thereafter.
Currently, through the TIF rules, the project will capture 100% of the new property tax, and 50% of the new sales tax generated in the redev. area. If we give the other 50% of the sales tax, that means that the sales tax for the OC, which the people voted for in 2006, would be captured in the redev. area, but would not be used for the OC. Instead it would be redirected back into the project. That is where I took issue with the resolution. Although, the resolution would not be binding, if passed, it sends a message that the city is okay with using your vote as a bargaining chip. You can hear more about my position on this resolution here. Special thanks to KSGF and Vincent David Jericho for letting me come on the show.
Later in the day, we had our city council meeting. I will be posting the video this weekend. The afore mentioned resolution was removed from the agenda by its sponsor, Mike Esterl. Since most of the Aldermen had not read the finalized version of the resolution until Saturday, I was not sure how this resolution would be handled. I was thrilled that Mike decided to do remove the Resolution all together. I think it was a good move, and shows the citizens of Ozark that the board of aldermen will be doing what is necessary to protect your tax dollars. You can read more on this decision here.
Tuesday 5/19: State Audit. Susan Montee's office did a great job on this. All I can really say is: Yes, there was some damaging stuff, but nothing fraudulent. I think the worst part was not knowing what was going on, not so much that it was going on. If that makes sense. Now that it's all out on the table, it's not such a big deal. That is the power of transparency in government. Now we know what needs to be fixed and we can all move forward, together as a community. Kudos the the City Admin. and the rest of the city staff for working hard to get many of these issue resolved already. There is a ton of press on this so just check out any of the local media websites. You can also read the entire audit here.
Let me know if you have any questions. You can post a comment or call me 417-231-1045, or send me an email melissadwagner@gmail.com.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
My First Monthly Community Breakfast
I have scheduled my first community breakfast April 25th at 8AM at the Village Inn in Ozark. This will be an informal meet and greet where you can ask questions and pose ideas regarding our city and its future. We can also discus what went on at the April 20th Board meeting and how those things effect you. All citizens are welcome and encouraged to attend.
Note: You are not required to order any food, but the Village Inn asks that everyone orders a drink.
For more information please leave a comment or give me a call at 417-231-1045. You can also email me at melissadwagner@gmail.com
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