The Green Hills Regional Planning Commission and North Missouri Solid Waste Management District boards of directors met Thursday night in Trenton, approving a Comprehensive Economic Development Plan and approving assessments for membership in the solid waste district.
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The Green Hills Regional Planning Commission and North Missouri Solid Waste Management District boards of directors met Thursday night in Trenton, approving a Comprehensive Economic Development Plan and approving assessments for membership in the solid waste district.
RPC
A Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy document, which details a strategy for economic redevelopment in the 11 counties served by the local RPC, was approved. The document emphasizes public/private partnerships for both the public and private sectors and suggests the establishments of goals that can be attained within the next five years. The document approved by the board is an update of a similar plan adopted in 1998 and RPC Executive Director Michael Johns said work will begin immediately on an update that will include updated information encompassing 2001 and 2002. The plan adopted by the board was for 2001.
Citing the time required by staff members in the preparation of Community Development Block Grants for communities which maintain membership in the RPC, the board approved a recommendation from Johns that encourages communities to pre-select their grant administrator prior to the writing of the grant, with the administrator chosen also being responsible for the preparation of the grant as part of the proposal submitted for that work. Johns said there have been some instances in the past where the RPC has spent its staff time in preparing CDBG applications for members, only to have another group or individual chosen to administer the grant once it is awarded. Johns said that many of the CDBG documents prepared by the RPC are very comprehensive, taking a lot of staff time which is not properly compensated unless the RPC is also chosen as administrator of funds for the project.
In making the recommendation, Johns emphasized that the RPC would continue to do other types of grantwriting in which the pre-selection would not be a requirement. By taking this action, Johns noted that the the document outlining services of the RPC given to those communities who are members would no longer include language that writing CDBG applications would be part of the RPC services, although it would be available.
The board approved a memorandum of understanding with North Central Missouri College, which sets up a partnership between the college and RPC to administer a computer training program at the Chillicothe Correctional Center. The RPC has received a $108,000 grant for the program, with $68,000 being given to the college to hire an instructor for the program.
Johns reported to the board that the RPC can expect approximately $12,000 in state monies this year, which is about half of what the local organization received this past year. It was noted that the legislature had originally proposed to eliminate all RPC funding, but that some money was put back into the budget through the efforts of several legislators, including Third District State Rep. Jim Whorton, D-Trenton, and 12th District State Sen. David Klindt, R-Bethany.
Johns said the staff is working with the city of Trenton to complete a final proposal for an EDA Title I Public Works grant, which would help fund work on the sewer and water system near ConAgra. The final document is due July 5.
The board also heard information on several projects being worked on by staff persons as well as a closeout report on the Workforce Development programs, which end for the current fiscal year on June 30.
The board agreed to have Board Chairman David Tolen send a letter on behalf of the RPC to the U.S. Department of Transporta-tion, stressing the need for rural elected officials to be equal partners with state elected officials in the transportation planning process.
Solid Waste District
Lisa Coulson, who handles solid waste district activities for the RPC, reported on a number of items, including recycling events that have been held during the past year. She announced that a collection is planned in Livingston County this Saturday and that other collections are being looked at for later this summer.
It was decided to increase dues for membership in the Solid Waste Management District to 15 cents per capita, which is an increase of five cents from last year. The 15-cent fee had been in place several years ago, but had been reduced when the district was not using all of its funds. With the amount of recycling activities now being done within the district, it was decided that additional money was needed. The fee is assessed to communities and counties within the district that have a population of more than 500 persons. For Trenton, the fee will be $932.40, while Grundy County will now pay $632.40.
Mrs. Coulson also reported that state grants for projects had been received by the city of Marceline for waste tires and by High Hope of Milan for additional building space. The district?s grant application for a storage building was denied.