The Budget/Ways and Means Committee is scheduled to meet tonight in City Hall at 7 p.m. The main agenda item is the discussion of a proposal by Carthage Realtors for an agreement to sell property at the Myers Park Development.

At this time any realtor licensed in Missouri bringing a third party deal for purchase to the City is considered for a 2% commission. The proposed agreement with the Carthage realtors would raise that compensation to 5%.

The Council has thus far looked only at sales of lots of predetermined size, most are seven to twelve acres. The latest sale was 8.7 acres to Southwest Missouri Bank for $600,000. The question some have posed is if there have been no deals brought forward for the 2% ($12,000 in the SMB example), will increasing the commission to 5% ($30,000) result in more activity.

Other factors that may influence the Council’s discussion is exactly who the contract involves. It is unclear at this time if realtors outside the Carthage area will be included in the contract. The Council will also have to establish set prices for the property.

It’s like the old Don Williams song, if it was easy, ever’one would be doin’ it.

Seems folks are always frustrated with the amount of time it takes to get things done when it comes to the City. The fact is, things the government does are supposed ta be hard ta get accomplished. It’s built into the system so ever’one gets plenty of time ta say their piece. ‘Course havin’ that bit of knowledge doesn’t make it any less frustratin’ when ya want to see some changes.

If ya want ta be efficient, ya put one person in charge and let ‘em have at it. Bein’ efficient and gettin’ some kind of beneficial results may not always be compatible from time ta time, but ya takes your chances. The turtle does occasionally win I’m told.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

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Workman's Loan

by Al Carrell and Kelly Carrell

Dear Al: My gutters got clogged and overflowed, causing a huge mess in the front courtyard of my home. They looked clean when I last serviced them, but I had missed a clog that was inside a downspout. I found that the fastest way to remove downspout clogs is to stick your garden hose down into it and force out the clog with the water pressure. If it won’t unclog from the top, try it from the bottom. It worked great for me.

Dear Al & Kelly: The old, removable wallpaper in my young son’s room was ugly but I didn’t want to paper over it. I ended up painting it. First I used a primer and then two coats of plain beige paint. My son is allowed to draw anything anywhere he chooses on the walls. When they get too busy or he gets older, it will be easy to pull off the removable wallpaper for the next scheme.

A SUPER HINT-If you have a box full of wood screws for something like a new deck you’re building, pour a little liquid hand soap over the screws, and they will practically put themselves into the wood.

Dear Carrells: I have been redoing my basement to turn it into a study. A lot of the work I’ve done had some ripping and cutting, and I needed a longer workbench to help support the long materials. I didn’t have any type of appropriate table, so I used the only thing around that was available, the family ironing board. It was the perfect height and long to handle the material.