26OCT2009

City Council Approves Tax-Oversight Committee

Several City of Joplin representatives attended the City Council meeting tonight to discuss their tax-oversight committee on which Mayor Jim O’Neal modeled his resolution to establish a similar committee here. The resolution was unanimously approved by the Council and referred to a Council committee for further development.

The City of Joplin established a nine-member citizens’ committee that meets quarterly. They review all of the receipts that come in under each sales tax and see if revenues are meeting budgets.

They also review expenditures relating to each of the taxes. Currently, the oversight includes designated taxes for Parks and Stormwater, Public Improvements and Public Safety.

One of the benefits is that it puts the discussion and monitoring effort on the record because the meetings are open to the public and videotaped.

“This tax oversight committee has helped us have credibility with our citizens,” Mayor Gary Shaw said.

Mayor O'Neal also introduced and thanked citizen Richard Thompson for noting Joplin's example and making the suggestion in a recent opinion column to form a similar committee here.

The Council tonight also considered the final outcome of the Urban Gardens Task Force work that began this summer.

“The goal was to enable, not to restrict, gardening,” said Principal Planner Mike MacPherson, who worked with the Task Force. He outlined the major points of the proposed ordinance:

• Personal gardens were not previously addressed in the City Code; they are now a matter of right in all zoning districts throughout the city with no restrictions on personal gardens.

• Community gardens without retail or wholesale sales also are permitted in all zoning districts. Organizers can sell subscriptions or lease plots. They will need to sign a simple, no-cost performance standard indicating they will address issues like stormwater and erosion control in development of community gardens.

• Commercial gardens that allow retail sales can go in any area zoned General Retail or above. This also would apply to Farmers Markets, which weren’t addressed in existing ordinances. MacPherson said if a community garden was not able to sell all of its produce through leases or subscriptions, its members could go to farmer’s market or wholesale to a food supplier or restaurant.

“I think this was a very worthwhile effort,” he said, adding that both the citizen Task Force and the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended unanimous approval.

Councilmember Dan Chiles asked about chickens. MacPherson said the task force didn’t really address that issue and suggested that the Springfield-Greene County Health Department should be brought into any discussions of permitting chickens in urban setting.

Task Force Member Galen Chadwick discussed Springfield’s Well-Fed Neighbor Alliance, which is a grass-roots effort to assure a safe and nutritious food supply for the community.

The Council will consider the urban-garden bill for final vote at its Nov. 9 meeting.

posted by Louise Whall, Public Information

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