Joplin City Council talks flights to Chicago, approves projects

The Joplin City Council met Monday night and heard a presentation from Joplin Regional Airport Manager Steve Stockam who is asking for more police officers at the airport starting next month with the addition of flights to and from Chicago. He would like to have four .75 PT officers that would allow an officer to cover the TSA for all outgoing flights. These would be Airport Positions, not Joplin Police, as JPD is already short a number of officers. Both Stockam and Police Chief Matt Stewart say these positions would be most attractive to those officers that may have just retired. The officers would get similar training to those on the street but the job descriptions greatly differ. They will use JPD officers for the time being for the morning flights but Stockam plans to develop a new job for the position to be brought for formal council action at the next council meeting with an amended budget. He says this would have an effect of $85,000 between now and the end of the budget year, not including future revenues from the new flights.

Stockam adds that they have spent $95,000 on advertising for the new service and will be more aggressive in that venture. Stockam says that Joplin is a late-booking market and the prices have been relatively similar to those flying to and from Dallas. The flights start June 6th and you can see more details by clicking here.

The Council approved a $151,636 change order to a construction order for the tin cup lift station renovation project that provides for the replacement of valves on each of the five raw sewage pumps located on level 3 of the station. The original $1.38 million contract was approved in August.

Council also approved a $385,445 purchase order for evaluation and rehabilitation of the wastewater collection system. This will clean and repair defects in areas of sewer around the city.

Members also approved a rights-of-way management that amends Chapter 106, "Streets, Sidewalks and Other Public Places. They say the city is seeing an increase in applications for right-of-way use by public utilities. The General Assembly has increasingly limited the power of municipalities to regulate the ROW. However, the City is grandfathered. The City’s grandfathered status needed to be codified through the proposed Rights-of-Way Management Code. By definition, the right-of-way is the legal right, established by usage or grant, to pass along a specific route through grounds or property belonging to another. A representative from AT&T had asked the council to delay the emergency declaration to warrant time for research of the implications brought on by the bill. He says that it could

In a first reading, council talked about an agreement with the Missouri Development Finance Board and Main Street Joplin doing business as Downtown Joplin Alliance for financing through the State Tax Credit for Contribution Program in support of the Empire Market Building Redevelopment Project. A taxpayer would be able to contribute to the development fund of additions to the Empire Market at 931 East 4th Street. They could get a tax credit for up to 50% of that donation. See more details here

They also discussed and advanced a bill that would include new resolutions pertaining to illicit discharge regarding sewage disposal. The city is required by the EPA to submit a permit application and develop a stormwater management program. Click here for all the details