City Beat: Council approves substitute bill on right of way

In its 17th revision, an ordinance to charge rent to telecommunication services that use Springfield rights of way was passed by City Council at its March 19 meeting, with only one opposing vote by Councilman Russell Rhodes.

With passage of the bill, council agreed to the ordinance to shortcut legislation pending in Jefferson City that would prevent the collection of such revenues. By the vote, council set up 15 new municipal code sections which establish procedures and conditions under which licenses and franchises are granted. Obligations and rights for those telecommunications businesses which are issued licenses and franchises also are set out in the new ordinance for right of way use.

If a company services customers with Internet or long distance connections on a right of way, it will now have to pay a percentage of its gross receipts: 0.25 percent for Internet services, 1 percent per leasing capacity and 0.5 percent for all other revenues, according to Nancy Yendez, the assistant city attorney who has written and rewritten the ordinance over the last five years.

At the last council meeting, John Sondag, director of external affairs for Southwestern Bell in St. Louis, protested the ordinance saying it was taxation and, according to the Hancock Amendment, had to be put to a public vote.

Yendez disagreed. "They don't think we should be able to charge them." But, she said, it is rent, not tax. She said the telecommunications industry theorizes that it has a statewide perpetual franchise to use the rights of way for free, but Yendez doesn't think they do. Neither does the St. Louis Court of Appeals, which has ruled that franchise fees are rent, not taxes, and therefore Hancock doesn't apply, she said.

"They are occupying city property to make profits. Just like if you wanted to come down here and rent an office at City Hall, we wouldn't have a (public) vote on what your rental fee is going to be."

Besides, she added, "they get an absolute total credit on the gross receipts license tax they pay," so if they are paying the tax, they get the right of way rental fee back.

"The real work starts now getting the companies in here making sure they are registered with the clerk's office because they get rights. They have obligations, but they also get rights." All the telecommunications companies in Springfield have temporary licenses that say they "would comply with the ordinance when it was passed. They all have the reservations of rights, but we should be able to resolve that with them," Yendez added.

Rights of way are under streets, in greenways between sidewalks and streets, and sometimes under sidewalks. The rental funds have been dedicated by the city to help to maintain those areas, Yendez said. She said the city would be lucky if it brought in $50,000 from the rentals, but that sum would help.

Criminal code reinstated

Council also undid some previous damage that resulted when it revised the city criminal portion of the code book last summer. It agreed to an ordinance that put back on the books more than a dozen common offenses that had been taken out. The purpose of the revision was to allow city prosecutors to use the similar state statutes when they charged crimes. That would have allowed attorneys access to better case law found under the state statutes' interpretation. However, the statutes apparently didn't always match the old city laws, causing charges filed under them to be dismissed.

Bills amend building code

Nine bills to amend the Land Development Code to bring it up to international standards received first reading. Nick Heatherly, director of building development services, said the changes are the "newest and latest version."

"About every three years the city has adopted new versions of the code. Technology improves. People learn from their mistakes," so the code changes, Heatherly said. He added that his office tries to keep those in the building trades updated on proposed changes to get their input in the revisions before proposing them to council. Changes involved the codes for electricity, plumbing, private sewage disposal, residential, building, mechanical, fire prevention, nuisance and housing, and the code provisions for administration and enforcement.

Council tables annexation

A first reading bill to annex land was tabled after questions by Councilman Tom Carlson on the area's growth rate. In a later interview, he elaborated. "What are the overall growth trends in the community? In the county, at first blush, we're growing 15 percent and in the city we're growing at 8 percent. It isn't that simple because the city growth is arbitrarily restricted because of the unworkable annexation laws in this state. So I think you need to look at it more in terms of what we call the urban services area ... what our city limit boundaries would be."

The urban service area is that part of the county where the city and City Utilities will extend services without annexation.

"But we won't encourage developments outside of that," Carlson said. "We don't want to have sprawl. We want to have an orderly progression. Are we growing at the same overall rate as the region? Or are we seeing some other factors at work.?" The bill was tabled to allow city staff time to provide that information.

If approved, the bill would allow the city to annex 2.66 acres of private and public right-of-way adjacent to the existing city limits, in the 3300 to 3600 blocks of North Cedarbrook Avenue (Farm Road 175.) The annexation was recommended only if Greene County enters into an interlocal governmental agreement with respect to the improvement of certain roads within the area to be annexed.

Another bill up for first reading included one to allow the city manager to apply for a 2001 Community Development Block Grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development for certain projects. The city staff and the Citizens Advisory Committee for Community Development recommended approval.

Another bill concerned the rezoning of 5 1/2 acres of land on the south side of West Republic Road between Campbell and Broadway Avenues from a Single-Family Residential District to Planned Development District No. 244. The Planning and Zoning Commission and staff recommended approval.

A "housecleaning" amendment to the Merit System rules also received a first reading.

City resolves to annex land

Council approved a resolution to annex 148.4 acres of land which would initiate a rezoning request for property south of Evans Road between U.S. Highway 65 and Kissick Road, from a County A-1 Agricultural District to a City Single-Family Residential District.

It also approved a resolution authorizing City Manager Tom Finnie, on behalf of the city of Springfield, to enter into an agreement with the Board of Public Utilities, the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce and the Springfield Business and Industrial Development Corporation to form a public/private partnership for the development of the Partnership Industrial Park West.

A third resolution to start the public hearing process to review the possible transfer of ownership of a cable television system from AT&T Corporation to the Mediacom Communications Corporation also was approved.

Council also approved an amendment to the budget to grant the Community Partnership of the Ozarks $10,000 for additional administrative expenses and authorizing the change in use of a Community Development Block Grant project from minor repairs to housing to a neighborhood clean-up in the center city area.

All the second reading bills on the consent agenda were passed after one small amendment, including a bill condemning the area of 1015 E. Trafficway to add land to the Jordan Valley Park Project.

Council also approved a bill amending the Land Development Code by rezoning seven parcels of land at the northwest corner of Interstate 44 and Mulroy Road.

The Consent Agendas were approved with one small amendment.

City-SMSU to study transit

Council also authorized Finnie to enter into a contract with Southwest Missouri State University to conduct a transit planning study, and amended the city budget in the Planning Department for fiscal year 2000-2001 in the amount of $49,303.

Finnie also was authorized to enter into an agreement with BRW Inc. to prepare the Southeast Springfield Development Plan, and amended the budget for the city of Springfield in the Planning Department for fiscal year 2000-2001 in the amount of $70,000.