Month: September 2008

The city of Branson is once again putting a call out for volunteers to help repair Stockstill Park that was damaged by high winds and flash flooding from hurricane Ike earlier this month. Branson Parks and Recreation Director Cindy Shook said the cleanup will be Tuesday, October 7, starting at 9 a.m. at the park. Employees from the parks and recreation department as well as public works will be on hand to start removing the tree limbs, rocks and other debris left after winds and high water from Roark Creek rushed through Stockstill early September 14.

“Because of the volume of debris, we really need all the help we can get.” said Cindy Shook, director of parks and recreation. “The city will provide rakes, shovels and other tools for volunteers to use in cleaning up the park, and even if people can’t spend the whole day, we can still use them.”

According Shook, the cleanup is for the purpose of preparing the park for the major repairs on the ball fields, fencing, playground and asphalt walking trail. Private contractors will eventually be restoring the fences and ball fields, which have never been totally replaced since an earlier flashflood in June. “We are going to delay the major improvements in the park until after hurricane season in November,” Shook said. “But we still need to get the park in good condition for these improvements. That’s where we seek the help of volunteers.”

Stockstill Park will remain closed until all of the repairs are complete, and in the meantime, the city will be exploring options to minimize future flooding in the park.

“Consumer economic fundamentals are worrisome and do not bode well for the leisure travel industry in the months ahead,” Dan Lennon, Vice President Marketing & Public Relations, Branson Tri Lakes Chamber of Commerce & CVB (CVB), told the Branson Board of Aldermen at its Sep. 22 meeting. Lennon reported the information during the CVB’s second quarterly marketing report to the city for the quarter ending June 30.

He said the overall visitations to Branson were down 5.1 percent over the same period last year. The report gives a myriad of reasons for the drop, including a 50 percent drop in consumer confidence, uncertainty of financial markets, record gas and food price increases, weather, a 6.4 percent decrease in the marketing budget, and the economic crises.

According to the report, Branson’s room demand over the last12 months of the report was down 8.7 percent. Branson’s rate of decrease was much more than large cities such as Atlanta, Chicago, Orlando, Nashville, and Dallas. Lennon pointed out those cities had the advantage of a lot of business travel whereas Branson relies primarily on the leisure travel market. When compared to its direct competitors, Branson’s 8.7 percent decrease compares favorably to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge’s 8.3 percent, Wisconsin Dells’ 7.5 percent and is better than Williamsburg’s 11.3 percent. Branson’s 8.7 percent decrease does not compare as favorably with Lake of the Ozarks .2 percent, Myrtle Beach’s 1.7 percent or Hershey, PA’s 1.2 percent decreases.

The city of Branson’s collection of its retail sales tax was the only tax in the report that was up for the reporting period, rising 2 percent over the same period a year ago. According to the report the city tourism tax dropped 2.5 percent, the TCED Tourism Tax dropped 1.52 percent, and the Taney County Sales Tax dropped by .25 percent over the same period.

The report shows a 27.63 percent drop in the number of inquires received for information on Branson during the same period in 2007. Lennon attributed some of the decrease in inquiries to the decrease in the traffic and the budget. Lennon also pointed out they are using and testing some different internet marketing strategies and said the number should be up by the end of the year.

The majority of Branson’s visitors, 59 percent of them, travel from outer markets, 301 plus miles from Branson, 23 percent from primary markets, 101 to 300 miles from Branson and 18 percent from the core market, 1-100 miles from Branson. The core market has grown by 13.7 percent over the same period in 2007 while the primary market has dropped 10.2 percent and the outer market 7.8 percent during the same period.

Lennon pointed out that the trend of the percentage of visitors that are families continues to rise and is at 48.9 percent, up from 40.4 percent in 2007. The report indicates the average adult age of visitors has dropped to 53.6 continuing a four year downtrend from 59.5 in 2004.

The percentage of first time visitors to Branson of 19.4 percent continued a two year downtrend. Pointing out the relationship; between visitors coming from Branson’s outer markets and first time visitors, Lennon indicated that was something that needed to be improved upon.

The report ended with “a little good news.” He reiterated that the percent of decrease in the number of visitation through July had gone down from 5.1 to 4.7 and visitations for the month of August were up about 2 percent compared to August of 2007 providing a strong end to the summer. Lennon pointed out the increase was primarily from the primary markets and represented a 35 percent increase in the primary markets over August of 2007.

In summary Lennon reported that what hope there was for a solid rebound in the second half of 2008 has faded. The report states, “It now appears that Branson will likely end 2008 down somewhere between 4 and 7 percent.”

Furnished Courtesy of the Branson Daily Independent .

Notwithstanding a newspaper headline and story to the contrary, the Branson Board of Aldermen did not change the fiscal year of the city of Branson to Nov. 3 at its Sep. 22 meeting. Frank Schoneboom, Branson’s Assistant City Administrator said, “Branson’s fiscal year today is the same as it was before the meeting on Monday night, Oct. 1 to Sep. 30.” He said all the board did was pass a resolution authorizing the continuation of necessary and essential expenditures to operate the city through Nov. 3.

Prior to the resolution authorizing the continuation of the necessary and essential expenditures of the budget to operate the city through Nov. 3, a public hearing was held on the city’s budget for fiscal year October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009. The public hearing was opened by Branson Mayor Raeanne Presley. No member of the public came forward to make comments and the hearing was closed. Mayor Presley said there would be another public hearing on the budget at the boards Oct. 28 meeting.

The written staff report introducing the resolution states, “City and State Statutes allow for the continuation of the budget into the following year for good and sufficient reasons. On September 16th the Board of Aldermen and the Branson Finance Committee acknowledged that good and sufficient reasons exist to allow a continuation because of the City Governments financial status.”

At the Sep. 16 meeting, Branson City Administrator Dean Kruithof said a system breakdown had occurred. He described the system breakdown as, among other things, a lack of effective contract management, no reconciliation to budget, no project accounting, and that the city has an obsolete financial system. He stressed the city of Branson, although a very small city in terms of size and permanent residents actually has to operate on the same financial level as most large cities yet, the resources of its finance department, both in terms of personnel and systems, are not adequate to do the job.

At the Sep. 22 meeting, as part of his comments on the continuing budget resolution, Kruithof said the continuing resolution was necessary so that the budget process could be completed. He said they were in the process of working through the second round of budget discussions with the city’s Directors and were looking very hard at expenditures. He also pointed out that the additional time would be used to work on a number of items with the city’s Budget and Capital Committees and the city’s financial consultants in an effort to bring the board a balanced budget. He said, “This gives us some additional time based on the information we know.”

Although there were comments from the public they related to comments made by Alderwoman Sandra William in the period between the public hearing on the budget and not to the continuing budget resolution. There were no comments from the board and the resolution passed unanimously.

The resolution re-appropriates operation and maintenance expenses from the 2007-2008 fiscal budget from Oct.1 2007 through Nov. 3, 2008. The resolution specifically states “That in the 2007-2008 fiscal year the City of Branson experienced a breakdown of its financial system along with revenue shortfalls and increases in operating costs.” It went on to say that for these reasons and others the board deemed it necessary to allow additional time for the development of the 2008-2009 fiscal budget.

Furnished Courtesy of the Branson Daily Independent.

Branson extends Ward 3 storm debris cleanup deadline

The Branson Public Works Department has extended the special storm cleanup an extra two days due to the volume of limbs and brush residents have set out for the free pickup. That means residents in the city’s Ward 3 will have their storm debris collected on Monday and Tuesday, September 29 and 30.

The same rules apply. All limbs and brush must be at the curb by 8 a.m. on the day of pickup. The debris must be cut and stacked at the curb in 4-6 foot piles, but don’t need to be bundled. This pickup is for limbs and brush only, not trash or other items. And once crews go through Ward 3 on Monday and Tuesday, they will not backtrack.

The public works department began the city-wide storm debris clean up last Monday to help residents, at no charge, properly dispose of all the tree limbs and brush blown down on their property by the remnants of Hurricane Ike that rolled through the Ozarks early September 14. All three city wards were supposed to be completed by this Friday, but the amount of curbside debris made public works officials realize they needed more time to cover the whole city; so residents in Ward 3 will have the city collection next Monday and Tuesday.

Questions about the city-wide pickup can be directed to the Branson Public Works Department at 337-8562.

In a year filled with record rainfall and the highest lakes levels ever what wasn’t needed by Branson was the rain remnants of Hurricanes “Gustov” and “Ike.” By the time Ike had tracked its way through the Ozarks and Branson area lakes were well above their season normal levels for this time of year and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) was forced to open the spill way gates slightly at Table Rock Lake on Sep. 17.

Greg Oller, US Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) Lake Manager for Table Rock Lake said the rising level of Table Rock Lake caused the need to release a planned 20,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) from the lake. Oller said the plan is to release 20,000 cfs total through the hydro power plant and the spillway until Table Rock gets to down to an elevation of 920 feet at which time the release will be cut back to 15,000 cfs until the lake level drops to 917.

So far the release through the spill ways has been a constant 5,000 cfs. The water being run through the hydro power plant has varied while the Corps and Empire Electric have worked to make the necessary adjustments to limit and mitigate any downstream flooding.

James Sandburg, Corps Operations Manager for Table Rock Lake, said although the total amount of water planned for release from the lake will be either 20,000 or 15,000 cfs, depending on the lake level, that total amount will be a fluctuating combination of water being discharged through the hydroelectric plant and spillways. The amount of water coming over the spillways will be dependent on the water coming through the hydroelectric plant. If less water is coming through the hydroelectric plant more water will be released through the spillway and if more water is released through the hydroelectric plant less water will be released over the spillway.

The amount of water released through the hydro electric plant will be limited by amount of dissolved oxygen in that water. At this time of year, because of the lake depth from which the water used to generate power is drawn, the dissolved oxygen content is extremely low and causes a problem with Lake Taneycomo’s fishery. Sandburg said the Corps is working with the Southwest Power Administration and the Missouri Department of Conservation to solve or mitigate the problem.

The record of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers indicates Table Rock Lake crested at an elevation of 923.65 at about noon on Sep. 17, is filled to 45 percent of its flood storage capacity and is about 6.5 feet above its normal seasonal level of 917 feet. Beaver Lake, the lake discharging into Table Rock Lake crested at elevation of 1129 feet on Sep. 17, is filled to about 92 percent of its flood storage capacity and is about 8 feet above its normal seasonal level of 1121.4 feet.

Bull Shoals Lake, the lake Table Rock discharges into, had not crested as of 7:00 a.m. Sept. 18. It was at an elevation of 684.69, is filled to about 69 percent of it flood storage capacity and is about 28 feet above its normal seasonal level of 646 feet.

Furnished Courtesy of the Branson Daily Independent https://bransoncourier.com/view_article.php?news_ID=41

The scheduled agenda of the Branson Board of Aldermen for its Sep. 22 regular meeting will be long and full. In addition to the quarterly marketing report to be presented by the Branson Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce and CVB, the board will also consider matters relating to delaying the final approval of the city’s 2009 fiscal year budget until the end of October and will again address the matter of a new liquor control ordinance.

It appears the Branson financial caution light that came on about midway through the city’s 2008 fiscal year will be on at the start of the city’s 2009 fiscal year. At a special joint meeting of the Branson Board of Aldermen and the city’s Budget and Finance Committee held on Sep.16, Branson City Administrator Dean Kruithof stated it was too ambitious to get the budget done by Oct. 1 and suggested a target date of the end of October.

Kruithof suggested that the public budget hearing for the fiscal year 2009 budget, scheduled for the boards Sep. 22 meeting, be conducted as scheduled. That hearing is on the agenda.

He also suggested the interim measure of the board adopting a resolution providing for the continuation of the budget process into October and for the payment of the basic expenditures necessary for the city to conduct basic operations and provide services to its citizens. The board will consider a resolution providing for the continuation of necessary and essential expenditures of the budget to operate the city of Branson through Nov. 3.

The staff report introducing the resolution states, “City and State Statutes allow for the continuation of the budget into the following year for good and sufficient reasons. On September 16th the Board of Aldermen and the Branson Finance Committee acknowledged that good and sufficient reasons exist to allow a continuation because of the City Governments financial status.”

The city’s proposal to amend its liquor ordinance has been in process for over a year. The initial amendment met with considerable opposition when it was presented earlier this year. As a result of the considerable public input on the proposal a number of changes and revisions have been made to the initial proposal and an entirely new bill has been substituted for the original.

The new revised 47 plus page substitute bill incorporating the changes and recommendations from the previous hearings and meetings on the issue is on the agenda for its first reading. If approved the final reading for the bill will be scheduled for the Consent Agenda of the boards first meeting in October which will be on Oct. 14. A review of the substitute bill indicates it does not contain any notations or other indications showing what was changed from the original bill. The complete text of the substitute bill as well as the complete agenda for the meeting is available on the city’s web site at www.cityofbranson.org under the “Agendas & Meetings” link.

Furnished Courtesy of the Branson Daily Independent https://bransoncourier.com/view_article.php?news_ID=41

A decade’s long tradition of holding the twice monthly regular meeting of Branson Board of Aldermen on the second and fourth Monday of the month has changed. With the approval of the Consent Agenda at its Sep. 8 meeting, the board authorized a change in the day of the week the meetings are held from Monday night to Tuesday night. The change is effective Oct. 1 and will start with the board’s first meeting in October scheduled for Tuesday Oct. 14.

The stated purpose of moving the meetings to Tuesday is to give the city staff, the board of aldermen, and the public enough time is “to review agendas prior to the regular meetings.

In other action the board gave final approval to the 5 percent increase in water rates and a 15 percent increase in sewer rates which will start with the October billing cycle. The rate increases are the third in a series of five annual increases, contained in a plan enacted by the board in September 2006. The plan was intended to reverse a trend of transferring funds from the Tourism and Capital Improvements tax and put the operating portion of the city’s sewer and water operation on a self sustaining basis.

The board also gave its initial approval to increasing certain Parks and Recreation Department fees. The fee increases are caused by increased maintenance and operational expenses that have exceeded the revenues and the desire of the city to make each program less dependent on subsidies from other city funds. Fees for the city’s Pitch “N” Putt 9 – hole golf course will increase from $6 to $10 for adults and from $4 to $6 for youth 18 and under while the daily fee for the Rec Plex aquatic center will increase $1 and the fee for renting the center goes up $25 from $100 to $125. The daily camping fees to rent an RV space in the city campground will go from $23 to $25.

Furnished Courtesy of the Branson Daily Independent https://bransoncourier.com/view_article.php?news_ID=41

As the “Branson financial onion” drifts down “Branson’s Budget River” slowly unwrapping, layer after layer, the significance of the words of Branson City Administrator Dean Kruithof at a recent meeting become apparent. While stating that the effect of the current budget strain on the upcoming budget was very simple, Capital and Operating expenses would have to be cut back, he said, “The explanation regarding the current strain on the budget is much more complex.”

In trying to illustrate the complexities of the budget challenges facing the city, Kruithof used the analogy of a river to represent the budget. He pointed out there are any number of tributaries flowing into the river, each adds water and increased pressure and the river can hold only so much water. The very first tributary entitled “Fund Payback” contained, among other things, a $750,000 per year payment from the city’s General Fund to repay a loan taken out for the Branson Landing project using Branson City Hall and the city’s newest fire station as collateral for the loan.

Kruithof explained that “Fund Payback” contained a number of standing financial obligations for projects which had to be paid back out of the General Fund. He went on to say, “Our General Fund dollars are competing with all our other operational dollars. We had the pay back for the Rec Plex, we had the payback for Capital Projects most notably the ‘convention center.’”

While seeking clarification on why General Funds would have to be used to finance the convention center in addition to the TIF (Tax Increment Financing) Kruithof explained that, in general terms, $750,000 from the General Fund is paid per year to the state to lease city hall because it was used for collateral on a loan for the Branson Landing convention center project.

On Sep. 10, an email from Assistant City Administrator Frank Schoneboom furnished additional details on the lease. It said the $750,000 payment is made from General Fund monies earmarked for the payment and the term of the lease is for 62 years. Schoneboom said, “This lease is for the 2003 MDFB ( Missouri Development Finance Bond) issues which was primarily used for property acquisition for the waterfront (Branson Landing and Convention Center projects).” He also pointed out that the payment is made “to a trustee, who in turn pays back on the note” and that “City Hall and our newest fire station (#3) are used to collateralize this note.”

Kruithof’s initial comments were made at a special Saturday combination meeting of the Branson Board of Aldermen and all three of Branson’s standing committees, Personnel, Capital Improvement, and Budget and Finance held at the Branson Rec Plex Sep. 7.

For related article entitled "Branson revenue stable but financial system breakdown strains budget" click here https://bransoncourier.com/issue-40/breakdown_financial_sytem_kruithof-1000.html

Furnished Courtesy of the Branson Daily Independent.

Whether or not the Fall Creek Road Extension will survive the current budget stress the city of Branson is working through remains in limbo. At its Sep. 8 meeting the Branson Board of Aldermen postponed a bill accepting the bid of Emery Sapp & Sons d/b/a/ ESS Contractors, subject to a change work order, until no later than Oct. 28. The original bid for the whole project was $4,545,681.

As originally bid, the project would have been the final phase of construction on a new main north south artery on the east end of the strip between the intersection of Fall Creek Road and Highway 76 and Fall Creek’s eventual intersection with Roark Valley Road to the north at its current intersection with Epps Road. Epps Road provides direct access to and from Highway 248. The original bid also covered the realignment and straightening of the “s” jog of Fall Creek Road slightly south of its intersection with Highway 76.

The change order bill, designed to be more fiscally in tune with Branson’s current budget situation was for a revised amount of $3,116,728. This would have resulted in a reduction of $1,428, 953 from the original bid of $4,545, 681 by deleting the paving from the project north of Highway 76. It had been prepared and placed on the agenda prior to receiving additional financial information from the city’s financial consultants, Office Direct, LLC, on Friday of last week.

Branson City Administrator Dean Kruithof said after receiving that information he was going to recommend the rejection of the bid even with the change order and a rebid just for the south side realignment of Fall Creek Road to eliminate the “s” jog. He also pointed out that earlier in the day the contractor had offered to keep the bid open until Oct. 28 so that additional financial options could be explored. Kruithof, pointing out that the bid was an excellent bid, recommended that issue be postponed so that all options could be examined more fully and the city’s Capital Improvement Committee could be more involved in the decision.

During the discussion of the motion, prior to its postponement Mark Weiss pointed out that the citizens of Branson had been promised the road during two previous transportation tax votes. Both Branson Aldermen Rick Davis and Stephen Marshall said they had heard from their constituents about their displeasure with the “s” jog and expect, at a minimum, it will be eliminated.

City Engineer David Miller was asked how the “s” jog came about. Miller replied originally there was no “s” jog in the first phase of the project but as the project got closer to bidding he was directed to cut it to the bone and to those items necessary to complete only the intersection. He did as directed and approximately $200,000 was saved. No one asked who issued the direction.

A motion to postpone consideration of the Fall Creek Road Extension to no later than Oct. 28 was approved unanimously.

From a financial perspective, although Branson’s revenues are stable, its finances will be challenging for the next couple of years as the city repairs what Branson City Administrator Dean Kruithof calls a breakdown of Branson’s financial system. The breakdown was just one of a long list of items Kruithoff attributes to causing Branson’s current budget strain.

He said, “It would be so much easier to walk in and say it’s any one of these problems that’s causing the budget strain but that’s really not the case. Any one of these issues individually could be taken care of but it’s when you have one building upon another building upon another that has created the kind of strain that we are dealing with right now.”

Kruithof’s comments were made at a special Saturday combination meeting of the Branson Board of Aldermen and all three of Branson’s standing committees, Personnel, Capital Improvement, and Budget and Finance held at the Branson Rec Plex Sep. 7. Also in attendance was John Petty and Janice Larned from Direct Offices, L.L.C., the company hired by the city on a interim basis for financial consulting assistance, and David L. Cochran, of Cochran Head Vick & Co., PC, the firm that performed the outside audit on the city last year.

In her introductory remarks, Branson Mayor Raeanne Presley said Branson’s City Administrator Dean Kruithof and his team would provide a fiscal reality check, along with a strong strategy to improve the city’s financial discipline and enhance fiscal responsibility at every level of the organization. She said, “I want to emphasize – our purpose today is not to look back on decisions of past administrations, but to look forward.”

Kruithof made a power point presentation entitled, “2009 Budget Challenges Ahead.” He used the analogy of a river to represent the budget pointing out there are any number of tributaries flowing into the river, each adds water and increased pressure and the river can hold only so much water.

As he started going over the items making up the tributaries adding depth and pressure to Branson’s “budget river” he indicated that any city might have to deal with one or two of the items “But” he said, “Any of them coming up together and starting to multiply is starting to create pressure.” Although he listed a number of tributaries contributing to Branson’s current budget stress the one seeming to have the most impact and getting the most attention was the tributary entitled, “Breakdown of Financial System.”

In describing what Kruithof called, “A system breakdown” he said, there has been a lack of effective contract management, no reconciliation to budget, no project accounting, the city has entered into some extremely sophisticated agreements such as the TIF agreements and the city has an obsolete financial system. He stressed the city of Branson, although very small in terms of size and permanent residents actually has to operate on the same financial level as most large cities yet, the resources of its finance department, both in terms of personnel and systems, are not adequate to do the job.

Kruithof said, “Compared to a lot of other cities we are still in wonderful condition wonderful situation.” He went on to say that they don’t view these as permanent problems but as problems that will have to be corrected so Branson may move forward.

Lou Schaefer, who served as Branson’s mayor during the biggest growth period in the city’s history, died early this morning at the age of 80 following an illness. Family members say he passed away at a rehabilitation facility in Springfield.

Schaefer was mayor of Branson from 1995 to 2007, and he was the first mayor in Branson’s history to be elected for six consecutive terms. He served two years on the Branson Board of Aldermen as mayor pro-tem prior to his election as mayor.

He was a strong supporter of economic development. During four years of his administration, 2004-2007, Branson experienced unprecedented growth with new construction topping $583 million and major economic developments such as Branson Landing, the Branson Convention Center and hotel, and Branson Hills opening.
Schaefer’s top priority when first elected mayor in 1995 was to see a convention center built in Branson. During the groundbreaking for the Branson Convention Center in October 2005, Schaefer called the event “…a dream come true for me.”

During his tenure, Branson’s city limits expanded from eight square miles in 1995 to 20 square miles in 2007. And by annexing, hundreds of dangerous old septic systems were connected to the city’s sewer system.
Schaefer has been called Branson’s First Ambassador because of his tireless efforts in promoting Branson as a vacation destination “where you can take any member of the family to any show or attraction and not be embarrassed with the content.”

Always quick with a smile and handshake, he enjoyed being around people and was especially popular among city employees, according to city administrative assistant Vicki McFarland, who worked with Schaefer during his 12 years as mayor. “He was so polite to everyone and a true gentleman,” she said.

Schaefer placed high importance on environmental issues. He organized a regional water quality conference in 1996 that eventually led to the formation of the James River Basin Partnership. Under his leadership, Branson became the first city in Missouri to install phosphorus removal equipment on its wastewater treatment plants, and Schaefer continually encouraged other cities to add this equipment to the point that he became known as “Mr. Phosphorus.”

A veteran of the Marine Corps, Schaefer especially anticipated the annual Veterans Homecoming in Branson that featured a week of activities and special events honoring military veterans. Schaefer attended practically every event to which he was invited, and for many homecomings, that meant 25-30 appearances in a seven-day period.

“I am so proud to be mayor of the city that has taken the national lead in paying tribute to all American veterans,” Schaefer said at a Memorial Day Remembrance in 2000.

His accomplishments as mayor earned Schaefer the prestigious 2008 Missourian Award that he was to receive September 27 in Jefferson City.

A native of St. Louis, Schaefer moved to Branson in the early 1950’s where he co-owned a wholesale business, owned hotels and later developed property. He is past president of the Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Visitors Bureau and served on the boards of Silver Dollar City, College of the Ozarks and the former Security Bank.

Visitation will be this Friday from 6-8 p.m. at Faith Lutheran Church, 221 Malone with services Saturday 10 a.m. also at the church. Burial will be at Snapps Bearden Cemetery on East Highway 76.

Motorists driving Roark Valley Road need to be aware of a detour set up at the intersection of the newly designed Forsythe Boulevard. A temporary road parallel to Roark Valley is now handling vehicles during the reconstruction of the intersection, which is scheduled to be completed in November. The intersection will also include a traffic signal to be installed in the spring.

The realigning of Forsythe is part of the Tanstone Project that includes retail shops, restaurants and condominiums. A roundabout in the middle of Forsythe will allow access to the Tanger Mall just west of Tanstone.

Branson City Administrator, Dean Kruithof used the Sep. 4 Work Session meeting of the board of aldermen to announce an unusual joint budget meeting on Saturday, Sep. 6 at 10:00 a.m. The meeting is unusual in terms of being held on a Saturday, its location, the Branson Rec Plex and that it will be a joint meeting of the city’s three standing committees, Personnel, Finance, and Capital Improvements.

Kruithof said it would include a presentation of some of the issues dealing with the upcoming Fiscal year 2009 Budget and relating to some of the decisions the aldermen will have to make as part of that process. He acknowledged it was unusual to have a Saturday meeting and said it was caused by scheduling conflicts especially with John Petty and Janice Larned of District Offices, the city’s financial consultant. He said David Cochran, the city’s auditor and Lori Helle, the recently hired Finance Director for the city, would also be in attendance.

Alderwoman Sandra Williams strongly encouraged the public to attend the meeting. She said, “Press and public, we are asking you to please take an interest in this meeting.”

In other business, Kruithof reported the presentation on the development of new blasting regulations, scheduled for the meeting, would be delayed to allow participation by Alderman Rick Davis who was absent. One of the purposes of the new blasting regulations will be to create a more sloping perimeter when blasting instead of the typical cliff wall as evidenced in the TanStone development on Forsythe Road. He anticipated the process would be completed shortly.

Jerry Adams, the city’s Public Information Director, made a presentation on the progress being made to explore the possibility of using a public-private partnership to help create more attractive entrances to Branson off the three Highway 65 exits. He handed out a list of the citizens and businesses that have expressed an interest in serving on the Community Pride Committee. Alderman Stephen Marshall said the Branson CVB had also established a committee to help beautify Branson and increase its “curb side appeal.

During the discussion it was pointed out MoDOT had recently mowed the areas, businesses have already volunteered to beautify certain areas, and maintenance would require an ongoing effort. Alderman Bob McDowell expressed his belief that the beautification of Branson and its maintenance would be a permanent task requiring a tie in to the budget to ensure adequate funding to do the job.

Chad E. Zickefoose, MoDOT’s District 8 Transportation Project Manager made a presentation explain the details of the two options MoDOT had presented for the new bridge across Lake Taneycomo and asked for an indication of the board’s approval of Option A for presentation to MoDOT’s Cost Sharing Committee. Option A will provide a new bridge connecting with Branson Landing Boulevard, the rehabilitation and repair of the current bridge and a roundabout on the eastern edge of the bridge.

Furnished Courtesy of the Branson Daily Independent https://bransoncourier.com/view_article.php?news_ID=41

Although it’s a long way from being a done deal, Branson’s new bridge across Lake Taneycomo took another necessary step forward Sep. 2 with the signing of the “MoDOT Partnership Development Cost Sharing Program Application” (Application). The Application was signed by Taney County and the cities of Branson and Hollister just about an hour before the 4:30 p.m. deadline imposed the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) after its approval by the Taney County Commission.

The Application names the project the “Lake Taneycomo Bridge Improvements and Roundabout” and describes its location as “the intersection of Missouri Route 76 and Missouri Business Route 65 in Hollister and over Lake Taneycomo between Hollister and downtown Branson.” The project will include the construction of a new bridge, the rehabilitation of the current bridge, a roundabout on the eastern end of the bridges servicing both bridges, and will provide virtually continuous access across Lake Taneycomo at the point of the project while construction is taking place.

The genesis for the project was the determination by MoDOT that the current bridge would have to have its deck replaced requiring the closing of the bridge for up to a year and a six mile detour. The subsequent negotiations between MoDOT and the local government entities of Taney County and the cities of Branson and Hollister resulted in a plan to build the new bridge immediately downstream from the current bridge keeping it open while the new bridge was under construction.

Upon completion of the new bridge the current bridge will be closed for repair and rehabilitation. When the project is complete there will be two bridges with both bridges accommodating traffic going in both directions. The current bridge will maintain the current routing directly between Hollister and downtown Branson while the new bridge will connect with Branson Landing Boulevard providing an alternate route for those traveling to Branson Landing, to or from Highway 248, Branson Hills, or points north of Branson.

The Application provides the $12,665,000 cost of the new bridge and roundabout will be shared with MoDOT paying 50 percent and the other 50 percent by local agency partners, Taney County paying 40 percent, the city of Branson 8 percent and the city of Hollister 2 percent. The application also provides the local agency partners and MoDOT will share equally in any costs that exceed $12,665,000 on the same proportional basis. In addition to its 50 percent of the new bridge and roundabout, MoDOT is paying the entire $4,908,000 cost of rehabilitating and repairing the current bridge.

It was stressed throughout the meeting that the signing of the cost share application does not obligate any of the local agency partners to continue with the project. Although necessary if the project is to continue along in the process, the application is simply a request to MoDOT to cost share in the project which it may or may not do. Upon approval of the cost sharing application the next step would be the formal signing of an agreement between MoDOT and the local agency partners that will be binding.

Although MoDOT required the application to be submitted by 4:30 p.m. Sep.2 there was no firm date by which MoDOT had to accept or reject the application. The project timelines specified in the application are the project bid letting in the Fall of 2009, beginning of construction in late 2009 and project completion in the Fall of 2011.

Furnished Courtesy of the Branson Daily Independent.

By Gary J. Groman, a.k.a. The Ole Seagull

The search for a new finance director for the city of Branson has apparently ended. According to information released by the city, Lori Helle, the current director of finance and administration for the city of Chesterfield, Missouri has been hired as its new finance director. She was selected from among five finalists and is expected to start on effective Sep. 22. Branson City Administrator, Dean Kruithof said, “Lori is personable and knowledgeable and will be a tremendous asset to our management team.”

From a resume perspective, Helle has more than 14 years experience in city finances with six years of supervisory experience. She has been with the city of Chesterfield, a suburb of St. Louis with a population of 47,000, since September 2007 and was responsible for directing all accounting, financial and administrative operations including financial planning, general accounting, budgeting and debt administration.

Prior to Chesterfield, Helle was director of budget and finance in Ellisville, MO for five years; director of finance and treasurer in Shrewsbury, MO for three years and served five years as finance officer for Glendale, MO. She is a graduate of Drury College in Springfield with a BA in Accounting and Business Administration and currently studying for her MBA in Business Administration at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, MO, with anticipated graduation in May 2009.