City audit results come back clean

A clean audit for the city of Branson was reported by Kansas City-based Cochran Head Vick & Co. at the April 28 meeting of the Branson Board of Aldermen. According to a city news release, the audit covered fiscal 2008. All funds were accounted for, no illegal acts were discovered and, the city complied with all finance laws and regulations, the release said.

Sewer capacity

In other business, the board approved a contract with Olsson Associates Inc.'s Springfield office for the engineering firm to design the sewer capacity increase at the Compton Drive Wastewater Treatment Plant. At a design cost of $223,000, the modification will boost the plant's daily treatment capacity by 2 million gallons to 10.6 million gallons. The increase will accommodate future development and delay expansion of the city's second wastewater plant at Cooper Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Natural gas

Mike Lumby, a representative of Southern Missouri Natural Gas, updated the board on the company's progress to provide natural gas to the Branson area. Lumby told the board that natural gas should be available in Branson by fourth-quarter 2009. A steel high-pressure gas pipeline is to be constructed from Aurora to College of the Ozarks. According to the release, Southern Missouri Natural Gas has 285 plats of land to acquire for the construction of the 45-mile pipeline, and to date, 125 have been purchased. Under a franchise agreement with the company, the city of Branson is to receive a 5 percent fee on all natural gas sales. The board also gave final approval to the gas company to acquire easements along the Cooper Creek treatment plant property. The gas line is to be constructed this summer.

Walking trails and sidewalks

In March, the board approved a bid for the construction of a walking trail that will connect Branson Landing with Stockstill Park. That trail will run under U.S. Highway 5 along Roark Creek, so the city had to obtain an agreement from the Missouri Department of Transportation, which owns the U.S. Highway 65 right-of-way. The agreement spells out the city's long-term responsibilities for the trail's construction, maintenance and improvements, and under the agreement's terms, there are no additional costs to the city.

The board also approved sharing costs with MoDOT for the cost of two trail and sidewalk projects. The first is a combination of sidewalks and trails to connect Highway 76 at Fall Creek southward to the trailhead of the Lakeside Forest Wilderness Area. The second is a sidewalk connecting Shepherd of the Hills Expressway northwest to the trail being built in The Woods development. MoDOT and the city are splitting the $200,000 cost for these projects, the release said.