Transportation officials in Missouri and Kansas are hoping to keep highways clear of political and other yard signs. But tactics vary in the two states.

MoDOT is asking for your help to keep publicly-owned right of way clear of objects that could cause a safety concern by blocking visibility. KDOT is warning candidates and their supporters about locating signs alongside highways.

The placement of yard signs on right of way can sometimes create a safety concern for motorists by blocking the visibility needed to safely proceed through an area as well as enter or exit driveways and streets.

In other situations, the placement of a sign can become an obstacle for a driver to avoid in the event they must exit the roadway in an emergency. They can also make it difficult to mow or maintain the right of way.

Also, it is dangerous for persons when installing or maintaining these signs to be on highway right of way in close proximity to traffic.

When possible, MoDOT tries to identify and contact a sign owner before removing a sign. Once a sign is removed, it is held for 30 days and can be retrieved from the local MoDOT maintenance facility.

KDOT is warning that if its crews find political signs in the right of way for a highway or interstate, they’ll confiscate them immediately, without notice. Crews will then take the signs to the nearest KDOT regional office and keep them until they are claimed.

If signs are claimed, the owner will have to agree not to post them alongside highways again. KDOT says it will dispose of signs that aren’t claimed after the November elections.

Fort Dodge’s loss is St Joe’s gain, as Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. (BIVI) expands its operations here.  Iowa will see the loss of about forty jobs, but the job gains in Missouri will be much greater than that.

The company will consolidate its international packaging and distribution processes at a new facility to be located at the Eastowne Business Park along the east side of Riverside Road south of Pickett Road. 

Executive Director of the BIVI U.S. Supply Chain Steve Muenks says the company plans to consolidate operations from two existing St Joseph plants, along with one in Fort Dodge, Iowa, at the new building on St Joe’s east side.

Muenks said BIVI chose St Joseph for the expansion and consolidation effort, despite its recent acquisition of a lot of real estate and plants in Fort Dodge.  Moving the St Joseph operations to Iowa would have cost the city about sixty jobs.

BIVI will also expand manufacturing capabilities at its Gene Field Road facility, which will create more than 80 jobs by the end of 2015.

The company will get some extensive tax breaks, including abatements on $11 million worth of machinery, equipment and other capital assets.  The center will also have real property tax abatement of 95% over ten years on the estimated $28.7 million facility.

“Incentives were important for this project because we were competing with the state in which BIVI already owned property,” said R. T. Rutner, Buchanan County Presiding Commissioner.  “These incentives not only saved jobs, but created many new ones with the expansion of the Gene Field site.”

The negotiations for this project have been going since last September, involving officials from the City of St Joseph, Buchanan County, the State of Missouri, the St Joseph Metro Chamber of Commerce, Summers Realtors and BIVI.  Heading up the economic development project is Steve Hamilton, senior vice-president for economic development for the Chamber.  Hamilton called it a great day for St Joseph.

“We’re talking about saving 60 jobs, adding 25 jobs now and then another 88 jobs between now and 2015,” Hamilton said.  But he says more jobs could be on the line.  “This is going to be their main distribution center.  That means we have a much better shot at attracting additional Boehringer growth to St Joseph than we would have had if that main distribution center had gone to Iowa.”

BIVI is the U.S. subsidiary of one of the leading animal health companies in the world.  Chamber officials are confident that the announcement marks a golden opportunity for future growth in St Joseph for the company.

“This is a very rapidly growing company.  We expect that we will continue to have a relationship with them for many years to come, and there will many more jobs to come to St Joseph,” Hamilton said.

The property is currently owned by the St Joseph Business Park Corporation.  Negotiations are underway to sell the real estate to a group of local investors headed up by Adam Stein of Summers Realtors.  They have hired E. L Crawford Construction as the general contractor to construct the 260 thousand square foot building.  Officials expect the construction workforce to be largely local.

The state of Missouri has approved a Build Bond of $2 million to jump start construction.  That funding is repaid through future withholding taxes from the new jobs being created.

The site will require a lot of improvements, including a large amount of land grading.  That work will be performed with in-kind contributions from the city and county.  City Manager Bruce Woody says they have the equipment, and will arrange for city employees to do the work.  Presiding Commissioner Turner says the county will kick in the only out-of-pocket expense, the fuel, from its Economic Development Fund.  All told, those in-kind contributions would be worth about $400 thousand.

Services at the St Joseph Health Department are back to normal after an Internet outage limited the services.

The health department should be back to normal operations Wednesday after some services were unavailable and others were moved Tuesday.

An Internet outage forced the department to move all WIC appointments to City Hall Tuesday. Birth and death certificates were also unavailable at the St Joseph Health Center.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Internet service had been restored to the department.

 

 

 

 

Mel Klinkner, vice president for financial planning and administration at Missouri Western State University, has accepted the position of vice chancellor for finance and administration at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.

According to a university news release, Klinkner’s resignation is effective Aug. 3.

“Mel has done an excellent job for us in his role as vice president for financial planning and administration for the past four years,” said Dr. Robert Vartabedian, Missouri Western’s president. “His accomplishments have been numerous and greatly appreciated by the university community.”

Klinkner came to Missouri Western in 2008 from Purdue University, where he served as fiscal director for the housing and food services division. Previously, he served in financial administrative positions at the University of Central Missouri, the Kansas Board of Regents, Kansas State University and the University of Kansas.

Klinkner has a master’s degree in management from Baker University in Kansas and bachelor’s degrees in business administration and economics from Ouachita Baptist University in Arkansas.

Plans for the search for Klinkner’s successor will be announced at a later date.

 

Hopes for the rebirth of South Saint Joseph as a retail trade center are riding on a new development plan to be unveiled Tuesday evening. Former Mayor Larry Stobbs says the South Side Development Corporation wants to build on what the area already has: a family-friendly place with businesses that know your name. Developers would not seek “big box” stores like a Walmart.

Stobbs says the initial development area would expand a block at a time as business and residential activity grow. The plan has taken three years to develop at a cost of about $200,000, none of it taxpayer money. The group will unveil the plan from 5:30 to 7:30 Tuesday evening at Southside Hall, 302 Illinois Avenue.

The St Joseph Fire Department is trying to get the word out to the public about a spike in the number of fires in vacant structures in the city.

Including one early Monday morning, the department has responded to 18 vacant-structure fires this year.

That’s more than the total for last year, and well above the four that were reported by this time last year.

Chief Fire Inspector Kenny Cordonnier tells us you can help. He listed securing vacant structures, proper lighting around those structures, and increased vigilance from neighbors.

“I know a lot of these fires are happening in the early-morning hours, when most people are asleep, but we’re going to need some help from the public on this,” Cordonnier said.

To that end Cordonnier says they’re about to announce an effort with police and building inspectors to increase public awareness, possibly including formation of “arson watch” groups.