DEARBORN, Mo. — Nearly half of the most recent Dearborn board of aldermen meeting on Monday, July 9 dealt with two issues that had no resolution — housing and chickens.
First up on docket was Paradise Lake Estates and developer Bob Wagers, who started off by asking if the city would still honor a contract to put in sewer lines to his property.
The contract he brought up was signed back in 2006, under a different leadership in the town. He cited the downturn of the economy as the biggest reason why the project hasn’t gotten off the ground. Wagers was part of a group that was going to develop the projects but over time, two of the partners died and he said he bought out two ‘deadbeat’ partners to get everything in his name, something that took 2 ½ years.
The first phase of his development, in the city limits north of town but in Buchanan County, included 34 homes. He has enough land to build up to 50 homes and sold one of the lots — No. 13 — more than a decade ago.
The four sitting board members seemed to be willing to work with Wagers, who asked for sewer and water lines to be run to the property to get construction of houses and infrastructure underway. A review of past board decisions showed the city capped its cost at $50,000 due to inactivity at the project and in 2014 passed a resolution showing the builder was in breach of the contract for failing to develop the area.
“On my end, I’d love to see it take off,” mayor Jamie Morey said of the project.
A big discussion followed about the lack of housing in Dearborn. Businesswoman Elaine Greer said she is asked often about rentals or houses for sale. Tim Nash was in attendance and said when his family wanted to build a house years ago they had problem finding land. Instead, they decided to build in Camden Point.
“I don’t see why city doesn’t want to do this project,” Nash said. “As a business owner, you understand where revenue comes from sales tax and property tax. This man will put 50 houses or so … any little town around here would jump on it. You guys are running this poor guy around. It is terrible. It will pay for itself over the long term.
“I drove by and he got everything there. The lots are there. It is ready, it is just waiting on sewer. It is crazy. This economy with building, won’t be here for long. You already waited for it once. I’m not sure why you will wait for it again.”
The agreement at the end was to get a cost estimate from the city’s engineer and hold a special session for approval of sewer installation.
The newest alderman on the board, Breanna Cheadle, brought up the possibility of rescinding the city’s poultry ban to allow chickens in town.
She did research by looking at similar ordinances in Platte City, Weston and Parkville and used the forum to kick off the dialogue.
Morey noted his two concerns were that would bring even more wild animals into town and what would happen to the manure left from the chickens.
The residents that expressed interest in having chickens to Cheadle want them for eggs and meat.
A suggestion was made to have a forum later to discuss the issue further.
Approved Paving LLC was awarded a contract for street patching with two-inch and four-inch mill and overlays. The winning bid for the Atchison, Kan., company was $9,780. McConnell & Associates and Seal-O-Matic Paving Co. also submitted bids.
A discussion was held about a triangle shaped piece of property near 105 Short Street. A survey will have to be done to determine what part of the land is the city’s and what part belongs to the property owner. It was brought up in the meeting the location used to have transformers there in the past.
In other news:
Greer suggested having a ribbon cutting once the bridge in Dearborn is completed. Cheadle noted in talking with MoDOT officials earlier in the week, Aug. 10 was the projected completion date.
The 2017 audit was approved.
An ordinance was approved for a land purchase on Sixth Street.
A lengthy discussion was started by Karns about city code violations. The aldermen believed the board should be made aware