April 08, 2008 11:16 pm
—
By Melissa Dunson
mdunson@joplinglobe.com
WEBB CITY, Mo. — The second time was the charm for a $7.8 million bond issue for street projects in Webb City.
Webb City residents cast 813 “yes” votes and 348 “no” votes to pass the issue Tuesday. It failed last August by about 30 votes. In that election, a two-thirds majority was required for passage. This time, the issue needed a four-sevenths majority, or 57.1 percent.
City Administrator Steve Garrett said he was pleasantly surprised to see 70 percent of voters endorse the plan.
“I thought that we would pass it, but that was more than I expected,” he said of the results.
City officials will use money from a three-eighths-cent sales tax passed in August to purchase bonds to pay for a variety of street projects, including repairing Hall Street; extending Carl Junction Road and North Pennsylvania Avenue; connecting Fountain Road to 17th Street; and improving the intersection of Madison Street and MacArthur Drive.
William Duensing, 78, a retired Webb City resident, said he voted “no” on the street bond issue because he thinks there is too much waste in local government, and that city leaders need to show they can be responsible with the money they have before voters give them more.
His wife, Twyla, 71, also retired, disagreed. She said she voted for the bond issue and thinks the city needs the improvements.
Another Webb City couple voting together saw the bond issue as crucial to the town’s commercial survival. Kelly Farrar, 44, and Lisa Farrar, 41, said improvements the city plans for 17th Street are a way for the city to capitalize on commercial growth and economic development.
“You gotta keep up because if you snooze, you lose,” Kelly Farrar said.
City Council
Webb City’s 4th Ward incumbent councilman, Gene Mense, defeated challenger Randy Cahoon, 283 votes to 137, for a two-year term. Mense, 53, is a certified public accountant, and co-owner of the firm Mense Churchwell & Mense. He originally was appointed to the council to fill an unexpired term eight years ago.
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.