JOPLIN, Mo. — A heart-tugging drama unfolded Monday night in the Joplin City Council chambers as residents unsuccessfully pleaded for the council to reject a proposal to place a hold on the rebuilding of their homes.

The city staff, trying to deal with acres of residential rubble, proposed a 90-day hold on building permits for the construction of new houses in the heaviest damaged part of the city while it undergoes a government cleanup called “expedited debris removal.” That issue drew comments from four people, and the council ultimately imposed a 60-day hold on rebuilding.



OPPOSITION CITED

Creed Jones, vice president of human resources at EaglePicher Technologies, said he and his family lost their home, as did 57 other employees of the company. Many others sustained damage or were otherwise affected by the devastation, he said.

The company employs highly skilled experts in the field of energy and battery technology, and they already are being recruited by other companies to leave Joplin, Jones said. They may be inclined to take those offers if they cannot rebuild here quickly, he said.

“Don’t do this to those people who have already suffered so much,” Jones told the council as he choked back tears. He suggested that the city instead expedite building permits.

Larry Elder, who lives on South Monroe Avenue, said he could salvage the basement of his house and the floor that covers it if he could get to work quickly to erect a roof and walls around it. He said other area cities stricken by tornadoes have not imposed similar restrictions. “It sends the wrong message to developers,” he said. “It sends the wrong message to people who have lost everything.”

Darren Collins, of Galena, Kan., a builder whose wife owns a beauty salon on South Byers Avenue that was destroyed, said people do not understand why business buildings can be rebuilt but homes cannot. He said houses will be erected in other area towns to attract those who are delayed in Joplin. He asked the city to limit building activity block by block as debris removal is conducted instead of instituting a blanket hold.

Susan Butler said she lost her home on South Iowa Avenue and her law office on East 20th Street. “This property moratorium is a devastating blow to those who have lost everything,” she said.

A 90-day hold could mean that residents could not start building until September, and then could be delayed by cold weather or run out of money when insurance payments for rent expire.

Butler said the city has cited safety issues as one reason for the hold, but she questioned whether anyone understood what was unsafe about building on existing home lots.

Their comments drew applause from the audience.



SAFETY ISSUE

In response, City Manager Mark Rohr said the reason that commercial construction is being allowed is because the largest part of the destruction in the debris field involved houses.

He said it will not be safe in that area because of the number of large grappling trucks that will be working and driving in and out of the neighborhoods to haul the debris away.

The federal government has agreed to pay 90 percent of the debris removal costs until Aug. 7. If the city has to pay for that work, it would cost residents $3 million a day, city officials say.

Rohr said city administrators are continuing to work on plans intended to help with a faster recovery once the debris removal takes place.

He proposed reducing the duration of the hold on building permits to 60 days, saying the bulk of the work will have to be done within that time to meet the Aug. 7 deadline.

Assistant Public Works Director Jack Schaller said the goal will be to clear 75 to 100 residential lots a day by Aug. 7.

Councilman Michael Seibert said he found it difficult to make a blanket policy because of the number of people hoping to get started rebuilding their houses.

Councilman Benjamin Rosenberg said that if the council did not listen to professional opinions of the city’s staff, it would be acting on sympathy rather than the realities of the project.

Councilman Bill Scearce asked if a delay in the Aug. 7 deadline had been sought.

Finance Director Leslie Jones said city officials had been told that the deadline was definite and would not be extended.



BANKRUPTCY

“We could very well bankrupt the city, and the city is all of us,” if the debris removal is not done at federal expense, Rohr said.

Rosenberg and Mayor Mike Woolston asked whether the sewer system and other utilities would be available, or usable, if people could start rebuilding.

Schaller said the sewer connections are buried under rubble and could become clogged with debris material if they cannot be uncovered and capped as soon as possible. He also said that while utilities such as electric power have been restored in lesser damaged areas, no utilities are yet available in the areas of catastrophic or extensive damage. Electric lines will have to be rebuilt on those residential streets before any construction can take place, he said.

The council voted 7-2 to amend the hold to 60 days and to adopt it. The votes against the proposal were cast by Scearce and Melodee Colbert-Kean, who sought a shorter hold period.





Tornado death toll



THE DEATH TOLL from the May 22 tornado has increased by one, to 155. Edmon A. Cooper, 88, of East 25th Street in Duquesne, was added to the official list of fatalities on Monday, according to Lynn Onstot, with the city of Joplin. Cooper died Thursday, according to Rob Chappel, Jasper County coroner.