Outlook: County: Fiscal needs among top concerns for county

For Greene County, there are four areas that require reasoned foresight to envision what might become reality in 2001: law enforcement, resource management, road and bridge development, and the fiscal needs of the county.

Law enforcement

In late March 2001 we will complete the first phase of the Greene County Justice Center. This phase of our $22 million jail project will afford the sheriff's office the opportunity to relocate our inmate population to a new, state-of-the-art, direct supervision environment. Direct supervision provides a safer, more efficient incarceration setting.

Following the transfer of our prisoner population, we will immediately begin the second phase of the Greene County Justice Center, which involves remodeling our existing five-story tower and the demolition of the circa-l930 jail. We anticipate the overall completion of this project by spring 2002, several months ahead of schedule.

We expect other changes within our Greene County Sheriff's Department as Sheriff Jack Merritt takes the helm. The Greene County Commission, while we have appreciated our working relationship with Sheriff John T. Pierpont, look forward to new and fresh ideas that will surely unfold as Sheriff Merritt begins his tenure.

We already have begun working to bring Sheriff Merritt and his staff up to speed on the implementation of our trunked radio system project, to be completed in December 2001, as well as the variety of personnel requirements that will arise as we begin to occupy and bring on line our new jail. Other challenges to look forward to in law enforcement include 911 enhancements and continued participation with area municipalities directed toward public safety improvements.

Resource management

Land use initiatives involving the conservation and protection of agricultural lands in Greene County began in earnest in late 2000. We anticipate significant activities by our Planning & Zoning Office in implementing a program known as conservation development.

This effort affords landowners an option to develop their property while retaining certain portions of that property in open space or set-asides. This development option provides a landowner the opportunity to maximize the utilization of their holdings by capitalizing on incentives built into the land conservation concept.

In addition, changes are planned for agriculturally classified districts that protect agribusiness, existing farmlands and the farming community from urban encroachment. We will be working closely with various organizations, such as the Home Builders Association, Springfield Contractors Association, Board of Realtors, and other interested parties as these land-use initiatives are reviewed.

The members of the Greene County Commission continue to look forward to working with the James River Basin Partnership, Watershed Committee of the Ozarks, and other resource advocacy groups to protect water supplies and groundwater systems not only in Greene County but throughout our region. Steps are already being taken by these groups to educate land owners and business interests to foster economic development while protecting our environment.

Roads and bridges

Our Greene County Highway Department continues to make great strides in improving our bridge system and farm roads throughout the county. We look forward to completing the widening of Farm Road 182 (Plainview Road) by early spring.

In the same vicinity, we will be connecting Farm Road 137 (Cox Road) to the newly constructed Wildcat Bridge.

In conjunction with that project, improvements to Farm Road 190 will be made to improve the east-west link to Rivercut Golf Course.

On West Republic Road we will be completing improvements at the junction of Farm Road 125 near the intersection of West Republic Road and Missouri State Route FF.

Two projects that are dependent upon right-of-way acquisition include Farm Road 132 (Mill Street) bridge restoration and bridge restoration work on Farm Road 144 west of Missouri Route T. Design work has been completed and these projects are pending.

As many are now acutely aware, we have been endeavoring to address snow and ice removal during the month of December 2000 and anticipate more of the same in January and February of 2001.

These efforts present the most challenging aspects of the job done by our crews at the Greene County Highway Department.

We ask everyone to be patient as we attempt to complete the task Mother Nature has set before us.

Fiscal needs

Fiscal needs, revenue enhancement, increased funding and service demands, these all add up to one thing: the necessity to request assistance from the citizens to support the needs presented by a growing community.

Some of this money might be acquired with the help of the state of Missouri, if we are successful with several initiatives being pursued in the 2001 legislative session.

Other financial challenges will be addressed by fee and license adjustments planned for this year. Some demands will have to be met by proposing tax increases.

To ignore this fact is to ignore reality.

Consider some of the projects that we have facing us right now:

The Family Court Center coupled with the impending need to expand our Juvenile Justice Center

property acquisition for the improvement and expansion of the Greene County government campus

county park expansion, including a centralized office facility to be located adjacent to Nathanael Greene Park

a city/county parking structure to address increased parking demands within the governmental plaza area

stormwater facility improvements.

The items above represent only a short list of the many projects and improvements that Greene County must address now to meet future challenges. Funding solutions that may be available include the reintroduction of a countywide use tax.

This use tax would simply level the playing field for businesses competing outside the state of Missouri for products and services.

This proposal will in all likelihood be presented in the summer or early fall of 2001.

Another tax being considered is the renewal of the sunset portion of our Law Enforcement Sales Tax. This renewal would assist Greene County in continuing to address the overwhelming challenges presented by the criminal element in our community.

We do not anticipate moving ahead with the Law Enforcement Sales Tax initiative until after the spring of 2002.

Several other tax proposals may be considered in the future including a county-wide transportation development district, parks and stormwater-control sales tax, and a countywide hotel/motel tax.

Considerable community discussions would transpire before any such proposals would be put forward.

(Dave Coonrod is presiding commissioner on the Greene County Commission.)