JOPLIN, Mo. —
A closed-door session was conducted Tuesday by the Joplin Redevelopment Corp. to discuss authorizing the first land purchases related to $806 million worth of projects planned in connection with recovery from the 2011 tornado.
The board, citing an exemption in the Missouri Open Meetings Law that permits closed meetings for discussion of real estate transactions, was to talk about the purchase of tracts that likely would include those for the first of the projects, a $38 million building for the new Joplin Public Library coupled with a multiscreen movie theater.
In its open meeting, the board voted to allow its chairman, Ron Darby, to co-sign a request for a $20 million grant that is pending with the federal Economic Development Administration. It is intended to go toward the library construction. The City Council last week agreed to co-sign the application and commit the funds from the grant for the new library.
An appraisal of the 6.5-acre site where the library is to be located on Connecticut Avenue between 18th and 20th streets is to be accomplished this week.
Darby said the members of the redevelopment board, also known as the 353 Commission, are excited to help the City Council, the city administration and many other entities, including contracted master developer Wallace Bajjali Development Partners, with Joplin’s recovery from the 2011 tornado.
David Wallace, CEO of the development firm, said the work is not being done solely by the city and the firm. “This is the entire community standing shoulder-to-shoulder to not only build back, but to build back better,” he said.
He cited the cooperation of the eight banks working as a consortium to lend the redevelopment board $8 million in financing for the land purchases as an example of the effort.
“The financial sector coming together to help finance the rebuilding is really unheard of — not just here, but throughout the U.S.,” Wallace said.
The participating banks are Arvest Bank, Commerce Bank, U.S. Bank, Liberty Bank, United Missouri Bank, Pinnacle Bank, Southwest Missouri Bank, and Community Bank and Trust.
The consortium sends a representative, Stuart Puckett, vice president and loan manager of Arvest Bank, to represent the lenders at the commission meetings.
Bruce Anderson, of the development firm, told the board that the loan would be a six-month note. He said the board would be asked in its closed session to authorize the first group of land transactions based on the contingencies that the city will get liability insurance in place to cover the land within a few days, and that all due-diligence matters such as title searches and environmental assessments are successfully completed.
The loan is to be repaid with bonds issued on the new tax increment financing district the city recently approved to help pay for the projects.
Leslie Jones, the city’s finance director, told the board that the city issued a request for proposals for an underwriter to issue an initial $13 million to $13.5 million in bonds for property purchases. She said the $8 million loan would be paid from the proceeds of that bond issue.
The redevelopment board two weeks ago put on hold action on the EDA grant, the loan and property discussions because the city learned that its insurance did not cover the board’s business. The city has since acquired public risk insurance, which protects the board individually from lawsuits if any errors or omissions occur in its transactions. The city has found a company to issue liability insurance on its property acquisitions and expects a policy to be issued later this week.
Land purchases
IT IS PROJECTED that there will be a total of about $30 million in land purchases for the redevelopment projects.
May 2011 Joplin tornado
Joplin redevelopment board OKs grant, loan
- May 2011 Joplin tornado
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Illinois youth group arrives in Joplin to assemble house
Break time was approaching, but Keith Duncan wanted to make one last concentrated push in order to get the large Penske truck unloaded. “Two minutes, people! Two minutes!” he yelled as the students and adults hauling large wooden sections out of the truck began picking up the pace.
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SLIDESHOW: One year later, One day of unity, updated
Photos from a day of events commemorating the May 22, 2011 tornado anniversary
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Last of 586 FEMA trailers in Joplin to be prepared for move
For 19 months, rows of nearly 600 units spread out among community and commercial sites were a visual reminder of the homes lost in Joplin on May 22, 2011. One by one, contractors began disassembling and moving the trailers, a testament to their occupants having found places to live.
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Civil engineers release study of Joplin tornado damage
It did not take much wind to flatten houses in the Joplin tornado zone because so many were poorly constructed to withstand wind, according to a study released recently by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Rescuers, tornado victims reunite at Quapaw station
There were lots of hugs exchanged, pictures taken and memories summoned when fire crews on Friday met the two youngsters they pulled, critically injured, from the wreckage of Joplin’s 2011 tornado.
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Quapaw tribe’s firefighters, EMS personnel meet with children rescued at Home Depot in 2011
There were hugs, stories and the occasional tear this morning when two children who were trapped and seriously injured after the 2011 Joplin tornado met for the first time the Quapaw Tribe firefighters and emergency medical workers who pulled them from the wreckage and saved their lives that night.
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New members take seats on redevelopment board
Three new members took their places on the board of the Joplin Redevelopment Corp. in a meeting Thursday. The panel welcomed as new members Laurie Delano, vice president of finance for Empire District Electric Co.; Gary Duncan, retired president and chief executive of Freeman Health System; and Phil Stinnett, a former Joplin council member and mayor.
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Tornado grant trustees look to shelter placement
Trustees overseeing a Joplin tornado fund hope to use some of their remaining money to move FEMA-financed tornado shelters to areas where they are needed.
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Documentary about Joplin Globe coverage of tornado wins 2013 Mirror Award
The documentary “Deadline in Disaster” has won a 2013 Mirror Award in the “Best Single Story” category.
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Oklahoma photo collection to begin with ‘Picture Patrol’
A new national photo rescue operation based in Carthage that formed to help salvage and return to owners what was lost in the Joplin tornado has reached out to Moore, Okla., and next week will help storm victims there get down to business.
- More May 2011 Joplin tornado Headlines
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