April 08, 2008 11:49 pm
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By Roger McKinney
rmckinney@joplinglobe.com
CARL JUNCTION, Mo. — Carl Junction voters approved a $4.1 million bond issue for a new community center and a $365,000 bond issue for street projects on Tuesday.
The vote was 471 “yes” to 217 “no” on the community center. The victory margin was 68 percent to 32 percent.
The vote on the bonds for street projects was 459 “yes” to 222 “no.” That victory margin was 67 percent to 33 percent.
Approval of each bond issue required a four-sevenths majority, or 57.1 percent.
Mayor Michael Moss was excited about the positive votes.
“I’m tickled to death,” he said. “This is going to be a vast improvement. I’m so excited right now, I don’t know how to express myself.”
Moss thanked the school district, senior citizens and others who helped promote passage of the bond issues. The community center will house City Hall, a senior center, a gymnasium and community meeting rooms. The 320,000-square-foot center will be built north of the police station.
Space concerns in the current City Hall were a primary reason officials proposed the issue.
The $365,000 bond issue for street projects will include money to redesign the intersection at Briarbrook Drive and Fir Road. Another project will extend Main Street to link to Joplin Street.
The bond issues required a total 23-cent debt-service levy. The city will extend the current levy, which otherwise would have expired, for 20 years.
The annual tax impact of the issues for the owner of a house in Carl Junction with an appraised value of $100,000 would be $43.70. The city’s total property tax is 69 cents. The owner of that $100,000 house pays annual property taxes of $131.10 for city government.
Tom Asbell, 73, a retired Joplin city employee, voted in favor of both issues.
“I figure that the city of Carl Junction is falling way behind on projects,” he said. “The senior citizen center is a pretty good deal.”
Chris Ware, a third-grade teacher in Carl Junction, also voted in favor of both issues.
“The community center, we’ve needed it for a long time, the way the community is growing,” she said. “It will benefit both the seniors and the youth.”
Ware said the growth of the town was her reason for voting on the bond issue for street projects.
Council seats
In the City Council election for a 1st Ward seat, Donald Marshall unseated six-term incumbent Barbara Evans. Marshall, a deputy with the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department and a former councilman, had 59 votes. Evans had 40 votes, and Julie Alford had 33 votes. Ron Daniel, who dropped out of the campaign, received 19 votes.
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