Holden mayor Mike Wakeman broke a 3-3 voting tie with a yes vote to move a proposed ordinance zoning change on a tract of land on East 10th Street (Highway 58) to a second reading at a special meeting of the City Council held Thursday night at City Hall.

The second reading will take place at the next regularly scheduled council meeting.

The land, previously owned by Bill Faust, was recently purchased by developer Robert Todaro who seeks to construct a retail shopping strip mall on the site.

Those voting for the first reading of the ordinance were council members Dorothy Wakeman, Jim Robison and Brenda Stumpff.  Voting no were Veronica Burt, Mike Zumwalt and Chad Manford.  Not present at the meeting were council members Butch Shore and Christie Stowe.

Even on a first reading, the issue was not without discussion, as property owners in the area of the proposed center were once again in attendance and spoke their disapproval of the zoning change.

They were also inquisitive about the reason for a special meeting to expedite the first reading.  Mayor Wakeman explained that the developer wishes to get started as soon as possible making formal plans for his venture.

The mayor also explained that the only portion of the land that would be re-zoned if passed would be the actual “Faust farm,” which is bordered by the white board fence and the tree-line.  The other areas running behind the residents properties was not in this re-zoning proposal.

He continued that construction approval would have to wait until the city had received the proposed final plat.  They would then study the plans and insure that everything proposed is according to city regulations.

By Steve Sullins
Editor

First on the agenda for the Holden Chamber of Commerce’s initial meeting of 2007 was installation of officers for the new year.

Those installed were Dennis Mason, president; Jenny Sollars, vice-president; Bevy Fletchall, treasurer and Pat Zvacek, secretary.

During other topics in the meeting the fair board committee reported they held a meeting and decided to regroup to produce new ideas. They plan to meet again in late January with other groups in hopes of generating new ideas. No general date has been set for future fair board meetings, but the dates will be determined after their initial discussion at the end of the month. 

Government committee member Butch Shore reported they had met with David Pearce, state representative, and Tracy Brantner with the Warrensburg development group. Primary discussion was on development of the industrial park. He reported the frontage fence is down and appearance is improved.

Mason reminded members it is time to sign up for committees again. Lists were distributed for members to review. Linda Frazier reported from the rodeo committee that they will need more help.

In other committee reports:

There will be changes in the membership committee as they plan to be more active this year and contemplate a membership drive.

The downtown park needs to have help taking Christmas decorations down. There will be a dedication ceremony for the park when the weather is settled.

The community betterment committee will meet on the fourth Thursday at Harmony House. They plan to place directional signs for school, city hall, etc and will meet to determine where to place them.

According to   Shore, the economic development committee has met with representatives from Missouri economic development. The meeting included a tour of Holden and Holden City Lake. They will focus on developing a comprehensive plan. Shore said Tracy and the Johnson County economic development office has focused on Holden. They are requesting proposals for an economic plan and will set up a day with David Pearce and the Holden economic development committee. Shore said the committee needs to develop an idea of projects they can work on as they plan to go to Jefferson City  February 28 and need to have an agenda.

Regarding the building committee,  Shore said, "We need a roof design. It hasn’t died. It’s in the works. We need to raise funds. We have some commitment from the financial community." The plan is for the facility to have two offices and a conference room as well as restrooms for the public.

Mason reminded members Holden’s  150th anniversary is coming up in 2008. The planned Civil War reenactment needs to be off and running this year.

Referring to the July 4 fireworks, Mason also said  expenses are rising and that members should decide to explore the possibility of the city  helping. Some of the service clubs might also be interested in contributing.

Also in the president’s comments, Mason reminded the members that they did not have a flag ceremony honoring veterans and that was an agenda item for this year. The chamber agreed they would need more help from other organizations and they would be talking to the American Legion and VFW members.

In regards to the community betterment committee, Mason reported that it was decided in committee that they need to look at infrastructure before they look at sidewalks. He said, overall, they need to address the storm water problems. The next Chamber of Commerce meeting will be Thursday, February 1.

By Terry Vinck
News Staff

Holden R-III School District Superintendent Scott Slava was unanimously approved to be offered a one-year extension of his three-year contract, and high school renovation plans and timetables were firmed up at the regular meeting of the district’s school board Monday night.

With the extension, Slava will be under contract with the school district through the 2009-2010 school year.

After a month of fine-tuning and incorporating board suggestions, Sam A. Winn & Associates Architects PC representative Wade Lininger presented updated detailed plans for the HHS renovation.  School board members seemed pleased with the plans which should be approved in a special meeting to be held January 18 at the intermediate school library.

Concern had been raised in the last board meeting by Mike Watterson when Lininger suggested deleting the new concession stand on the south end of the school to add space to the band and vocal room.  Watterson had stated that doing away with the concession stand was a problem as many people felt that was one of the selling points of the plan.  He had further stated that many patrons would be unhappy with the revision.

After “crunching the numbers,” Lininger has included both the concession stand and the extension of the music room and said he has “high hopes” that they would still be able to come in under budget. 

Board president Jeff Miller explained to the board that the plans were scheduled to be approved to allow bids to be let in the special meeting next week and that if they had any problems or suggestions to let him know as soon as possible.

In an area related to the school renovation, the board passed a resolution authorizing issuance and sale of the $5 million bonds to fund the project.  Roger Adamson from L.J. Hart was present to present paperwork.  He stated that a more favorable interest rate had been obtained which saved the district $67,000 before the closing date of January 23.

Adamson also explained that more than 20 percent of the bonds had already been purchased by the Bank of Holden and F&C Bank.

In other new business, the board passed a request to execute a quit claim deed returning one acre of land on SW 1871 to the present landowners for the sum of $10.  The property was once the site of Orr School in Rosehill Township and was never deeded back to the landowners when the school was no longer used.

A budget adjustment of $58,301 in expenditures was also authorized by the board.  Most of the additional monies will be paid to staff in updated salaries and benefits.

In the reports section of the meeting, Lisa Baker and Mindi Crook presented a library/media services report, while the district’s counselor team led by Lesi Smart reported on their activities.  Student achievement overviews were rendered by Matt Lindsey, high school, and Mark Hedger, intermediate.  Hedger was aided in his report by special education teacher Niki Wooster and her “therapy dog” Lunar.  Hedger also updated the board with a preliminary soccer committee report. 

Donna Fizer  reported on a new program the district was looking at in the curriculum and instruction report.

During the auxiliary services report, director Larry Arnone told the board of the happenings in the transportation, food service and facilities area.  He stated that installation of the  wrought iron entryway fencing for the sports complex entrance was waiting on the utility locators report.  He also wanted to publicly state the wonderful job the janitorial staff did over the holiday break in the school buildings.  “The buildings look fantastic,” he praised.

Miller reminded everyone that the filing cutoff date for board vacancies in the April election is January 16.  At present, four individuals have filed for the two seats up for grabs.  They are, incumbents Susan Feeback and Jim Wallace, Sonya Corrigan and Joe Burnor.

 In the closed executive session at the end of the meeting, the board hired four individuals for employment.  They are:  Amanda Raker, part-time day plus assistant; Jeremy Redhair, bus driver; Kurt Morrison, head softball coach; and Sharon Connely, pre-school day plus assistant.

By Steve Sullins
Editor