By Derek Spellman
dspellman@joplinglobe.com
NEOSHO, Mo. — Neosho City Council members next month are expected to take up an invoice for consulting services connected with last year’s railroad quiet-zone measure.
Mooney Consulting LLC, of Jefferson City, last month submitted an invoice for more than $3,800 in services rendered between March 9, 2009, and Feb. 3 of this year.
But police Chief Dave McCracken, who is serving as acting city manager in the wake of the firing last month of Jan Blase, indicated in a report Tuesday to the City Council that the original consulting proposal was reached orally over the phone between Blase and Mooney. There never was a signed agreement, McCracken wrote in his report to the council.
“While this is something that should not have occurred, it appears the vendor (Mooney) has done a good job and the cost seems proper,” McCracken wrote in the report, which includes a detailed time log.
Mooney was to prepare documents, craft a preliminary and then final plan, and coordinate various inspections with the Missouri Department of Transportation and railroad companies in connection with the quiet-zone plan approved by the council almost a year ago.
The invoice came before the council Tuesday, and members agreed to table the request until the April 6 meeting. Mayor Pro Tem Richard Davidson pointed out that the council otherwise would be voting on the invoice before giving final approval to special-obligation bonds the cash-strapped city plans to issue to front the money for the quiet-zone work.
The council tentatively has approved a measure that would issue $425,000 in such bonds for the paving of La-Z-Boy Drive and for the quiet-zone projects. Those special-obligation bonds, which await second and third readings for approval, would be paid off with reimbursements from the state and railroad companies.
The quiet-zone plan called for the closing of a series of railroad crossings in Neosho, with some officials citing safety concerns as well the money the city would receive from the state and the railroad companies in exchange for the closings.
Previous protests
Plans to close railroad crossings at Park Street and Daugherty Road drew protests from a number of residents. They said the plan would curb east-side residents’ access to the western part of the town, despite construction of the South Street overpass.
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