City Beat: Council praises storm response, but some members call for more

A vigorous response by city workers to damage caused by destructive winds on April 29 was lauded by Springfield City Council and staff at the May 5 council meeting, but some members indicated they thought the city should do even more.

Interim City Manager Collin Quigley offered a report on the storm response. He said no injuries or fatalities were reported, but damage to the city’s infrastructure, urban canopy and utility services was significant.

“The prompt and coordinated response from city departments, City Utilities and Greene County helped mitigate further risk and restore services as quickly as possible,” Quigley said. “We will continue to focus on preparedness, infrastructure resilience and public communication, [which] will be vital to strengthening Springfield against future severe weather events.”

Council unanimously passed an emergency bill to allow a waiver of fees for use of the Yardwaste Recycling Center for a period of 14 days, dating from its first opening after the storm on May 3.

During discussion of the bill, Councilmember Craig Hosmer said following the ice storm of 2007, the city helped residents by collecting yard waste from curbs in front of their houses.

Quigley said that storm brought more significant damage citywide, and the city and county worked together to acquire a single contractor to hit the threshold needed for federal disaster funding.

He said doing so required a disaster declaration by the president of the United States. He called the possibility of that happening for the April 29 storm “pretty remote,” though he said the county’s Office of Emergency Management is looking at possibilities. Meanwhile, he said, the city is working with volunteer agencies to provide help to people who need assistance.  For information, residents can call the city at 417-872-6720 or connect with their neighborhood association.

Councilmember Brandon Jenson praised the city for launching its response so quickly.

“This is a pretty widespread disaster that has affected large swaths of Zone 1 … and also impacted Zone 3,” he said.

While Jenson noted it was his hope that there would be a widespread neighbor-helping-neighbor effort, he said the volunteer response he observed “left something lacking for me.”

He agreed with Hosmer that a more robust response is appropriate, and he added that the level of debris that was created is far beyond what individual homeowners will be able to handle.

“I also think we’re in a time where we can’t necessarily rely on the federal government to step in and help us with these types of things anymore,” Jenson said. “I don’t think we should count on that assistance being there, but that doesn’t mean our citizens still don’t need our help.”

Regardless of whether reimbursement can be expected, he said, the city has a rainy-day fund for a reason. He recommended city funds be used to provide staff overtime incentives and to contract with crews for services to help residents with the recovery.

“Last Tuesday was certainly a rainy day in my books,” he said. “This is a citywide disaster, and it deserves a citywide response.”

In his report on the storm, Quigley said the recovery process is ongoing, with crews clearing debris and restoring infrastructure while assessing long-term needs.

Quigley noted that during the storm, there were 1,826 calls for service via 911. The Springfield Police Department responded to 70 storm-related traffic incidents, and the Springfield Fire Department logged 51 emergency calls in the first 12 hours of the April 29 wind event. Additionally, the city had 668 service requests the day of the storm, mainly for Public Works regarding downed trees in roadways.

According to the National Weather Service, no tornadoes were confirmed within the city limits.

Quigley added that Public Works had 12 street operations crews and six arborist crews working around the clock to respond to and remove debris blocking roadways, and an eight-person Public Works team constructed improvements at the city’s Yardwaste Recycling Center for an additional brush lot.

Quigley said when the Yardwaste Recycling Center opened Saturday, May 3, nearly 2,000 customers brought brush to the center in one day. By comparison, he said, 250-275 customers bring yard waste in on a typical spring Saturday.

Hardinger tapped
Councilmember Heather Hardinger was elected by a 5-3 vote to serve as council’s mayor pro tempore, the person who leads the council at meetings in the absence of the mayor and participates in some ceremonial functions for the city.

Hardinger had a challenger for the role in Councilmember Monica Horton. Hardinger was nominated by Councilmember Derek Lee, while Horton’s name was put up by Jenson.

Voting in favor of Hardinger were Lee, Abe McGull, Callie Carroll, Mayor Jeff Schrag and Hardinger. Voting no were Horton, Jenson and Bruce Adib-Yazdi. Hosmer did not register either a vote or an abstention. A vote was not held on Horton’s candidacy because Hardinger received the requisite five affirmative votes.

In remarks prior to the vote, Hardinger pledged to approach the role with professionalism, collaboration and a commitment to supporting the mayor, council and city.

Springfield’s city code specifies that the mayor pro tem act as mayor if the elected mayor is absent or unable to do so.

Property sale approved
Council unanimously approved the sale of property at 2307 E. Division St. to the highest of three bidders in the amount of $44,000. That surpasses the city’s estimate of the fair-market value of the property at $34,000.

The buyer is The Overland Group LLC, which plans to build a Dollar General store on the site, cleaned up by the city through its nuisance property/dangerous building process.

Prior to the vote, Adib-Yazdi said the property and adjacent property are zoned as residential townhouse now, and a Dollar General would require rezoning. He said he encouraged council to look strongly at the impact of a development on neighboring residential properties. Quigley said the buyer would have to go through the normal rezoning process.

Adib-Yazdi also suggested talking to the developers to see if they would be amenable to putting in a DG Market, a Dollar General store that includes fresh grocery products.

Other action items

• A public hearing was held on the annexation of 49 acres of private property at or adjoining 3830 E. Division St., as requested by East Division Development LLC. The owner would like to annex and rezone the property to build Cooper Estates, a mixed-density residential development. A vote on the measure is scheduled for May 19.
• A conditional use permit is proposed for a warehousing and storage facility in the Center City District along Division Street and Campbell Avenue. The facility is proposed by the General Council of the Assemblies of God. A vote is set for May 19.
• A hearing was held on a redevelopment plan for Pinnacle in the Park at 525 S. Campbell Ave. The Housing Authority of Springfield plans to leverage $31 million of public and private investment into acquiring and rehabbing the nine-story, 142-unit Stillwell Columns Apartments through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Rental Assistance Demonstration program. The ordinance includes a blight declaration for the property. A vote is scheduled for May 19.
• An additional blight declaration and redevelopment plan is proposed for the Hampton-Florence Redevelopment Area on the south side of East McDaniel Street between South Hampton and South Florence avenues. Plans call for 28 new residential dwelling units on 1.3 acres in Center City at the request of applicant Soflo LLC. A vote is set for May 19.
• A federal Surface Transportation Block Grant of $504,000 was accepted through the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission to reimburse approximately 80% of the base salaries of seven city employees at the city’s Transportation Management Center. The remainder of their salary and benefits will come from the city’s Transportation Fund.
• Good Samaritan Boys Ranch has applied for a conditional use permit to allow the expansion of its transitional service shelter at 504 E. Norton Road to include the construction of a donation drop-off center with storage space. A vote is set for May 19.