Council approves sale of senior center

Sep. 21—Sale of Joplin's former Senior Citizens Center will go forward.

The City Council on Monday approved a sale proposal made by Community Support Services of Missouri, 2312 Annie Baxter Ave., submitted the sole offer for the building in bidding conducted recently by the city.

The agency bid $10,000 cash for the property and submitted a plan to spend an estimated $275,000 to $300,000 on building renovations to accommodate the programs and services it would offer its disabled clients.

The city's finance director, Leslie Haase, said the former senior center at 2202 S. Jackson Ave. was acquired by the city with Community Development block grant funds provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Because of that, the city could repay the value of the property to the CDBG program if it sold the property, or the building could be conveyed if its new owner intended to use it in a federally approved manner.

The appraised value is $330,000, Haase said, but the building can be conveyed at less than that value if the buyer's intended uses meet CDBG national objectives and if eligible activities are conducted on the property to serve those objectives.

Community Support Services meets those objectives by providing services to people in Southwest Missouri with developmental disabilities.

Similar CDBG funding was used by the city to build a new senior center at 2616 S. Picher Ave.

In other action, a developer who has encountered neighborhood protest to his plan to build 14 new houses on 4 acres in the area of Twin Hills Estates told the council on Monday that he intends to work with those who are concerned about his plan.

Some residents of that neighborhood have attended meetings of the city's planning and zoning board and council meetings to object to the development plan and the final plat submitted by Blake Onstot, an insurance broker who said he is venturing into his first housing construction project.

The final plat of the development, to be called the Par Lane Addition that will be located at the end of a short street, Par Lane, was on the agenda for first reading.

Seven residents spoke to ask for city assistance or intervention.

Richard Hatfield of neighboring Fairway Drive said residents attending a recent council meeting expressed concerns about the housing subdivision being built on Par Lane, which residents said is too narrow for firetrucks and school buses to access.

Hatfield said the lane is about only about 24 feet wide, a tight street for construction vehicles. He also is concerned that water detention basins on some of the lots where the houses are to be built might go unmaintained. He said he has looked at several on other pieces of private property that have tall weeds because they are not mowed by the homeowners.

Jerob Huebner said some of the lots in the plat do not meet the minimum square feet for construction without including the drainage basin footage. He said the first thing people see as they enter the subdivision will be a water detention basin.

Residents were told at an earlier meeting that under state law the City Council was obligated to approve the submitted plat which had previously met approval of the zoning and planning commission.

He said the law protects the developer. "Where is the protection of our safety, our quality of life?" he asked.

Hueber questioned why the plan does not provide a buffer between existing homes and those the residents contend are being built to minimum standards rather than similar in size and value to their homes.

Troy Bolander, director of the city planning and development department, said the buffer requirements in the plan adhere to the provisions in the subdivision building code.

In regard to the water detention basins, Bolander said if it is on private property, it is up to the property owner to maintain it and make sure it's mowed.

The builder, Blake Onstot, said that "there is undue hysteria about some concerns."

For one, he said Par Lane will be improved to provide a hammerhead turn around on one end of the street and a cul-de-sac on the other end for large vehicles such as firetrucks to maneuver.

The houses he will build are 1,700 to 2,150 square feet with three bedrooms and two-car garages. In Twin Hills Estates, 75% of the existing houses are 2,150 square feet, Onstot said.

"Our plan is to develop a very nice development in a very nice neighborhood," he said.

Council member Phil Stinnett asked about concerns about traffic created on Par Lane by construction trucks.

Onstot said there are some things that can be done without using Par Lane. One is to use a construction easement on a resident's property as an alternative entrance to the building site. He contradicted claims that he and his company do not care about working with the existing homeowners.

Stinnett said concrete trucks and other heavy equipment will tear up Par Lane that the city will have to repair so he hopes they will have a construction entrance easement to use.

Stinnett said that since the plat was already approved by another board, the council doesn't have a way to resolve problems because the council has only administrative approval.

"Do everything you can to accommodate the scenario out there for the residents because they can be your friends or they can be your enemies," Stinnett said.

Councilman Gary Shaw encouraged Onstot to ask that construction vehicles drive cautiously. "Do all you can to improve the safety out there," he said.

Council member Diane Reid Adams commended the residents for speaking in a responsible manner without outbursts and said she hopes they can work together with the builder.

"That's not going to give any solace, but we do appreciate you all approaching council," Mayor Ryan Stanley told the residents.