Malden police station project gets nod to proceed

After nearly two years of discussion, decision-making and searching for funding, the new Malden Police Station came one step closer to becoming reality Monday night during a special called session of the Malden City Council.

With five of the eight members in attendance (councilmembers Braid Kilgore, Debra Grant and Dianna Rogers being absent), the council heard William Green, architect, share the contents of a letter from USDA Rural Development in which it has approved, in essence, the plans for the project. Because Rural Development is providing financial support for the project by means of a $172,000 grant and a low-interest loan, that approval was necessary before the city could advertise for bids.

Green explained the few minor changes and clarifications, stipulating that one part of the project could not be funded with the grant or the loan.

"We can't use Rural Development funds off site. That would be the sidewalks and parking lot," Green said, adding the estimated cost of those items would be around $20,000.

"We're looking at a June completion date. With the sales tax monies generated by then, you should have more than ample to cover the cost," he said.

Except for submitting a title opinion, all the paperwork has been done and the city has the go ahead to set a bid date.

In order to discuss the matter further, the council voted to adjourn its session and reconvened as the Malden Capital Improvement Corporation. At that point, a motion was made to begin advertising for bids on November 9. The motion was unanimously approved. Bids will be taken until 11 a.m. Friday, December 9, at which time they will be opened in the presence of Green and other city officials. Green will bring his recommendation to the regular council session on December 12.

In addition to local advertising, Green said the advertisement for bids will be faxed to all companies who have bid on previous projects as well as to professional publications.

After reconvening the council session, the matter for which the special meeting was originally called -- emergency management planning -- was discussed. Mayor Ray Santie has repeatedly called for regular discussion of the city's disaster plan, saying he and the council are ultimately responsible for the safety and security of the city's residents. He also has sought more specific guidelines for them to follow than what are currently in the city's 26-page major disaster plan, copies of which were distributed at a recent council meeting and can be reviewed at the city administrative office.

Of major concern among the councilmembers was the city's warning system. According to Councilwoman Cindy Earnheart, the siren in Spoonerville hasn't been heard in about seven years and, as of Monday night's session, it was reported than the siren is no longer there. That was news to Rod Dill, police chief and emergency management director, who said the sirens come under jurisdiction of the Board of Public Works. It was also learned after the meeting that the siren that had been atop the old police station was damaged during the demolition of the building.

Dill explained that the sirens are tested regularly but not in a manner that the public could hear.

Earnheart and Councilman David Black felt the testing should alert all citizens.

After further discussion, in which it was debated just how much detail should be in the plan, the council voted to amend the plan to include testing quarterly with a followup report of the results to be submitted by Dill to the council. Also included in the amendment were instructions for public education of the testing process and what to do in case of emergency. Quarterly inserts with BPW customers' electric bills, ongoing notice to residents on channel 4 and Dill's appearance as an interview subject on Channel 21 on a regular basis were among the educational tools the council also approved. Section H of the tasks the mayor, city council and EMA director are responsible for was amended to read: Through the media or local publications and other handout material from the local EMA office, initiating an educational program for the public to insure their indoctrination in disaster planning.

With those amendments, Dill said the only item under "Tasks" that hadn't been done entirely was item G, practicing disaster control test operations as deemed necessary and participation in test alerts.

Santie recommended Dill set up a table top drill with all department heads and the council sometime in the spring to address the role of city officials in a disaster.

Another section of the plan addresses the adequacy of emergency teams.

"Every time the police or fire departments answer a call, they are being tested," he assured. "The only thing we haven't tested is getting the council together but, honestly, we wouldn't always need them.

"We cannot protect the entire community in a disaster and we're setting ourselves up for tremendous liability if we were to make such promises," he added.

Dill explained that all city departments are considered part of the emergency response team and Santie recalled how that worked years ago when the airport area was hit by a major tornado.

"We had emergency people out there and everyone was coming out to help," he said.

Santie felt it would be helpful to designate a site to which the injured would be brought.

The council approved the parking lot of the Malden Medical Center as a preliminary site to address that matter.

With those concerns the mayor and various councilmembers had having been addressed, a motion was made and approved to adopt the city's major disaster plan as amended.

Earlier in the meeting, Econcomic Development Director Bill Hampton introduced Bill Green, owner of a consulting firm in Sikeston, which deals with economic development. Green's experience in economic development includes five years with the state's Department of Economic Development.

He explained that Malden has been a part of the Tri-County Enterprise Zone, including Dunklin, Stoddard and New Madrid counties, for the past 20 years.

"Those enterprise zones were to sunset after 20 years, so yours is either defunct or about to be," he said.

"Last year, the legislature passed provisions for the Enhanced Enterprise Zone," he added.

Basically, the initial legislation limited the number of zones, which is why Malden and Dunklin County became part of a larger regional zone. The new legislation does not set a limit on the number of enterprise zones, thus affording each community the opportunity to set up its own.

A board of directors, which would include a city official, school board official (because of tax abatements, school districts would be affected) and at least four others appointed by the city, he explained.

"The city would have total control of the zone," Green added, recommending that, since the enterprise zones do not include retail or services businesses, the city's zone be limited to the industrial park.

Green explained enterprise zones are an incentive for industry to locate where enterprise zones are available because of the opportunities for tax abatements and tax credits.

"Why would the city -- and school board -- allow a business a tax abatement?" Green asked.

Bringing in industry results in more jobs, more residents (and students) and, ultimately, greater revenues through sales taxes, he explained.

"If anyone gets an Enhanced Enterprise Zone, everyone will have to have one to compete," he further explained.

Caruthersville and Pemiscot County already have an application ready. Kennett and Stoddard County are looking at applying with Kennett looking at encompassing the entire county except for Malden.

"This is urgent for Malden because of a pending project," Green said. The pending project is the proposed ethanol plant, asserted Hampton. The potential benefit, he added, is in the form of state tax credits, which Bootheel Ethanol LLC could sell and realize a profit of possibly $1 million to go towards the project.

"With this enterprise zone, we can control what happens in our community," said Hampton.

"We need to have this -- it's one more tool to play the game," he added.

"If we don't do this, we'll be at a disadvantage," said Santie.

The proposal to apply for an Enhanced Enterprise Zone will be placed on the agenda for the regular session of the Malden City Council on Monday, November 14.