| Today's Feature
Contracts on Agenda.
The City Council is scheduled
for its regular meeting this evening at 7:30 in
City Hall. The agenda includes the first reading
of several contracts.
Council Bill 01-102 would
authorize a lease agreement with Melvin Abbiatti
for the roller rink located in Municipal Park.
Council Bill 01-103 would
authorize a contract with Larry L. Allen for the
purchase of property located at 116-118 W. Third
Street. According to City Attorney David Mouton,
Allen has signed a letter of intent for the
contract in the amount of $10,000.
Council Bill 01-104 would
authorize a contract with Craig Schreiner Golf
Course Architects, Inc. from Kansas City in the
amount of $95,000 for the design of the
renovations for the Municipal Golf Course. The
Public Services Committee recommends this
architect out of the over three dozen
applications received for the job.
Although not on the agenda, it
is expected that a contract with Main Street
Carthage in the amount of $10,000 for promotional
services will be considered for initial approval
by the Council. If approved, a Council bill would
be prepared.
Commentary
Martin "Bubs" Hohulin
State Representative, District 126
This past weekend I had to be
in St. Louis for some meetings and took the wife
and kids along. While there we went to see the
Nutcracker Ballet. Yeah, that’s right, I
went to the ballet. I have to admit that while I
didn’t understand much of it, I did enjoy it
and would highly recommend going to see it if the
occasion arises. You are probably wondering where
I am going with this. Don’t worry, I am not
going to do a critical review of it, but I did
think of a few things while I was there.
The show was sponsored in part
by a grant from the Missouri Council on the Arts.
This is the state equivalent of the National
Endowment for the Arts. Both are supported with
taxpayer dollars and disburse your money to
artists and artistic projects.
While watching the ballet I
couldn’t help but think that this was
something the state shouldn’t be involved
with funding. There are certain things that
government should be responsible for; roads,
education, and military come to mind. I
couldn’t think where ballet performances
would fit into the picture. Many other things
came to mind from the years I spent on the budget
committee. I don’t see where we taxpayers
should be asked to pick up the bill for privately
owned stadiums, artificially inflated union wages
due to the prevailing wage law, treatment for
drunks and dopers, extravagant living expenses
for able bodied people, Museums for Bass Pro
Shops and the list goes on and on.
However, we need to be careful
about how indignant we get when talking about
this subject. The State of Missouri also sends
money to county fairs around the state. Is that
something the taxpayers should be asked to pay
for? When I spoke up against that, I received
calls from very irate folks. They were almost as
irate as when they found out they would be paying
for a St. Louis stadium. What about money to pay
for an agricultural leadership program that had
always been privately funded?
A legitimate argument can be
made that if others are going to have their hand
out that we need to be in line with ours out too.
If we buy into that, where do we draw the line?
Why would one project be more deserving than the
other? It is pretty tough to maintain any
credibility when one day a legislator speaks out
against tax dollars going to a project and the
next day is arguing for money for a similar
undertaking.
With the budget having been
bloated beyond any amount of reasonableness I
believe we are at a crossroads. Are we going to
keep removing money from the pockets of our
taxpayers at an ever-increasing rate in order to
pay for everything for everybody? Or are we going
to start finally saying that many things are the
responsibility of the private sector and if the
public doesn’t want to support them, maybe
they don’t need to exist, or at least not on
the level that is attained with taxpayer funding?
Believe it or not, I am not
saying one position is right or wrong. I do have
my own ideas of what should and shouldn’t be
the taxpayers’ responsibility. I am just
saying it can’t go both ways. If we decide
to fund everything, the money has to come from
somewhere (the taxpayers). If we think a project
should be paid for with private money, chances
are that a supporter of that project is thinking
the same thing about something you are interested
in.
As usual, I can be reached at
House Post Office, State Capitol, Jefferson City,
MO 65101, or 1-800-878-7126, or
mhohulin@services.state.mo.us for your questions,
comments, or advice.
Tree
Seedling Distribution.
news release
The Jasper County Outreach and
Extension Center now has Missouri Department of
Conservation order forms for seedling trees and
shrubs.
The George O. White State
Forest Nursery near Licking, MO, offers Missouri
residents a variety of seedlings for wildlife
habitat, food and cover; reforestation;
windbreaks and erosion control.
The application lists the
species that are available and the price. It also
outlines the ordering procedure.
In addition to individual
species choices, several bundles of mixed
species, designed for special purpose plantings,
may be purchased. These include a wildlife cover
bundle; a conservation bundle; quail cover
bundle; and an extra-large nut tree bundle.
The time you place your order,
not the delivery date, determines your priority
for reserving trees. It is important to place
orders as soon as possible because reservations
for trees are made on a "first-come,
first-serve" basis until supplies are
depleted.
Trees will be delivered by
purchaser’s choice of one or two methods: 1)
Shipment by commercial carrier. 2) Purchaser may
pick up trees at the George O. White Nursery near
Licking, MO.
Persons planning to make large
plantings may wish to request free advice from
the Missouri Department of Conservation Forester
or Wildlife Services Biologist for their area.
These individuals may be
contacted through the Missouri Department of
Conservation Offices in Neosho or Joplin or by
writing directly to State Forester, Missouri
Department of Conservation, P.O. Box 180,
Jefferson City, MO 65102.
University of Missouri Guide
Sheets: G5008 "How to Plant Forest
Trees," G5006 "Before You Order Tree
Seedlings," G5900 "Planting Tree
Windbreaks in Missouri," and G5009
"Mechanical Tree Planting," are among
those available at the University Outreach and
Extension Center in each county.
For additional information,
please contact the Jasper County Outreach and
Extension Center located in the Courthouse
Basement, Carthage, MO or call 417-358-2158.
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