By Melissa Dunson

mdunson@joplinglobe.com

WEBB CITY, Mo. — Dick Largent has been busy since retiring last fall from his position as planning and community-development manager with the city of Joplin last fall.

And he’s about to become busier.

During the Webb City council’s meeting July 14, the council will consider hiring Largent on a contractual basis to do some historic-preservation and economic-development work for the city. Chuck Surface, Webb City economic development director and former Jasper County presiding commissioner, said the council discussed the contract during its work session July 7, and says he sees no obstacles to the action.

According to the proposed contract, Largent’s responsibilities would include coordinating the writing, adoption and implementation of a historic-preservation ordinance. The city does not have any type of official historic district and only has one building recognized on the National Register of Historic Places.

Largent said establishing a historic-preservation ordinance and obtaining a “certified local government” designation for Webb City would make the city and individual investors eligible for state and federal tax credits for building and renovation projects.

Surface said Largent’s work will be a way for the city to identify and hopefully acquire funding sources for some of the downtown revitalization projects identified by the Drury University architecture students who just completed a master plan for the city’s Main Street corridor.

“This is just one of those building blocks,” Largent said of the historic-preservation ordinance. “The Drury University study was one and this is another. And we’ll get higher and higher until we can start doing some of those projects.”

Surface said Webb City will also continue to work with individual students from the Drury University architecture program on specific projects downtown.

According to the proposed contract, Largent will also write a grant application so Webb City can seek funds for a historic-resource survey of the city’s downtown and will help form and then meet with a historic-preservation commission.

Largent did similar work for Joplin some time ago.

Largent is to determine what resources are available within the city, then gather field information for writing the grant applications and ordinances, and present the City Council with a new ordinance and design guidelines at a meeting in August or September.

The proposed contract has the city paying Largent $85 an hour, with a maximum fee of $2,000. The city will also have to pay for any mapping services provided by Anderson Engineering for the project.

Since retiring from the city of Joplin in September 2007 after 37 years on the job, Largent started a small consulting business, Community Development Solutions, and has been working with small communities throughout the area.