Priceless (Worthless)

OK, we have heard your requests. More blog entries from both of us. Unfortunately, this is but one part of our
business that simply does not pay. I
guess the satisfaction of doing a good job on something will have to do. So Steve and I will get back to the keyboard
and try to keep posting more often.

SO:

It's been a while since I added to the multi year rant I
have been steadily engaged in on this site.
I had hoped to focus on my other endeavors and let this lie for a while.
But alas, I have seen no others take up the cause so I feel it important that I
once again help open your eyes to the movements down at our fair city hall.

It's been nearly a year since the "Finale Draft"
of the highly anticipated and less than vigorously debated "Comprehensive
Plan" document was released to the public and while it has not been
officially adopted, it has been enacted.
See, by dragging it out of the bottom drawer once in a while and
discussing it in "special" meetings, it look like we are carefully
evaluating it. In the mean time, the
wheels of the ABL are turning rapidly.
Oh!, I forgot to explain the new acronym ABL, it stands for Anti
Business League.

SO, what's on Bob's little mind today? MONEY and COMMITTMENT.

Steve and I have made several offers to City Hall staff and
officials to voluntarily give our time and expertise in any real estate related
matter. Past administrations have called
upon us to help evaluate easement acquisitions, negotiate right of way takings,
assemble options for expansions and review leases. We have always been
accommodating and see it as a matter of civic duty. Now we are forced to go to public meetings to
force our advice on this administration.
In December, we heard via the radio station that the City council was
holding emergency meetings to vote on allowing a major tenant to abandon their
long term lease obligation to the city.
The property most of us call the Red Roof Mall was in question. Short story cut even shorter, they settled on
a $300,000 payoff and let the tenant out of their multi-million dollar deal
rather than keep the cash flow.

I am sure you all remember the $231,000 landlocked shack off
Fall Creek Road
our City Hall "found" the money to buy. No appraisal, no road frontage, no water or
sewer, an old cabin and some rock walls.
Nice place to visit but all indications are it was worth about
$35,000. That's $196,000 less than the
"special" purchase price the City paid.

NEXT UP, that
commitment to JOBS building. Even with the
trumped up team of "public comments" in the comprehensive plan
meetings, the message was clear that in addition to the millions of dollars we
need to find to rehabilitate the strip, our community wants new year round jobs
that are not influenced by tourism. An
outcry for economic development was loud.
Yet what does this administration do with it's valuable resources.
Everything except economic development.

Let's spend a couple hundred thousand bucks for a building
the school district can't sell. Don't
bother getting an appraisal. Don't worry
about what the heck the City can do with it.
Just buy it. And, while we are
buying it, we can't give "cost of living" raises to the city
employees and we can't afford to pay our legal obligation to the Branson Airport.

Now that we bought the old building in it's less than
stellar location, lets hire some architects and planners from out of town and
do studies on what it could be used for.
Don't worry, we have a grant to pay for the architects and
planners. They quickly pass a motion to
use the grant and proceed, Oh not mentioned in the press release is that the
grant is a matching grant so only HALF the money is actually paid for by the
grant, the balance is paid for by ,
, wait for it, ,, the City. I spoke with two planners and an architect
who live and work here and do need work but would have volunteers free of
charge to help. They were not even given
the chance to bid on the job.

And to demonstrate their unfettered commitment to economic
development they finally passed a motion to join the Taney County Economic
Development Partnership. This
after combining the jobs of economic development director and communications
director and basically gutting what little economic development department
there was at City Hall.

So, Two Million Dollar lease forgiven, + $ 300,000
Building the schools can't sell, - $200,000
Buying a $35,000 shack for $231,000

All while giving lip service to the economic development
cause,,,, Priceless.

Actually Worthless might be a better description.