MAJOR STEP FOR TRI-STATE WATER… The Tri-State Water Resources Coalition, for whom the Center provides administrative and research work, received the much anticipated Black & Veatch water study outlining potential long-term solutions to the region’s water future at its August meeting.  The B&V study examines water supply and conveyance options for the region in the next fifty years.  Public release of the report is anticipated on Wednesday, 20 September, at a public meeting in the Cornell Auditorium, located in the Robert W. Plaster Free Enterprise Center on the campus of Missouri Southern.  The meeting begins at 7 pm.  Much conversation will be generated by the study and much, much more action is expected from the Coalition. 

BARRY COUNTY PLANNING… Citizens in Barry County continue to work on their strategic plan with Center assistance.  The Tourism Committee is making dramatic progress while Public Safety, Transportation, Air and Water, and Education continue to meet.  Readers of the Center News are invited to participate in Shell Knob’s Shaking in the Shell Festival on 23 September.  Food and entertainment will highlight a day on Table Rock Lake.
 

WIRED AND READY… Thanks to summer intern NICK EDWARDS, the Center has a new look on the web with a refreshed and updated website.  Visit us at www.mssu.edu/redc.

SPEAKING OF INTERNS… Summer intern GERARD GOGGINS completed the identification of property owners along the 247 Corridor in anticipation of the next step by the Jasper-Newton Counties Environmental Task Force in the development of the property.  The Task Force met with attorneys from King Hershey in July to discuss financing options for infrastructure improvements in the affected area.  The Center provides administrative and research support for the Task Force.

CHARTER COMMISSION COMPLETES EFFORTS… The Joplin Charter Commission has wrapped up consideration of modifications to the 52-year-old Joplin City Charter and is prepared to submit the document to the City Council for its consideration.  The Council will receive the Commission’s report on 22 August.  Joplin residents should expect to see the Charter on the ballot for their consideration in Spring 2007.  If you are interested in receiving a copy of the proposed Charter, contact Ms. Price at the Center.  We can provide you one at cost.
 

PLANNING TO SURVIVE… The Jasper County Health Department, the Joplin City Health Department, and the Center are working together to create a public education program on planning for a potential pandemic influenza outbreak.  More information on this program are forthcoming as details are finalized.
 

AN INTERESTING FINDING FROM BARRY COUNTY… Asked by the Barry County Public Safety Committee to provide data on “expected staffing of law enforcement agencies”, the Center researched a variety of sources and discovered that Barry County ranks about in the middle of the distribution of staffing levels for neighboring counties and for counties of similar population.  The Center established staffing levels for nine counties in Missouri with similar populations with Barry County, then subtracted from those populations numbers, the county residents who depend upon the County for primary law enforcement services, then equated the population on an officer/1,000 resident basis.  The results show that Barry County falls in the middle of the distribution.  While engaged in the Barry County research, the Center also ran the numbers on the ten counties in Missouri that make up the Center’s natural constituency.  Those results show that Jasper County is far and away the most generously staffed.  The average for SW Missouri counties is 1.37 Officers/1,000 residents.  For a complete copy of the studies, call Ms. Price at the Center to request one. 

                                                Primary            LEOs
                                               Service            per 1,000
County            Population       Population       LEOs     Residents 
Barry                34,010             21,663             18        0.83
Barton              12,541             6,530               8          1.23
Cedar               13,733             7,952               14        1.76
Dade                7,923               5,239               4          0.76
Jasper              104,686           24,618             88        3.57
Lawrence         35,204             19,521             26        1.02
Newton            52,636             37,007             41        1.11
Stone               28,658             24,064             41        1.70
Vernon             20,454             11,367             10        0.88

 

CENTER AFFILIATES WITH ACCRA… The American Council for Community and Economic Research is a membership organization created in 1961 to promote excellence in community and economic research by working to improve data availability, enhance data quality, and foster learning about regional economic analytic methods.   ACCRA accomplishes its mission through professional networks, training, advocacy, research, and delivering innovative products and services.
 

WATERSHED GROUPS MAKING PROGRESS… The Lower Shoal Creek Watershed group had a large turnout for its July meeting in Neosho.  The group is compiling point-source and non-point source threats to the watershed before developing strategies to address the long-term viability of Shoal Creek. At the same time, another watershed group is forming, the Grand Lake Watershed Task Force. The majority of the Grand Lake watershed is located in Kansas and Missouri, requiring that improvements in the water flowing into Grand Lake in Oklahoma will depend upon multi-state cooperation.  The Center is involved with both groups.