By Pauline Masson –
Advice from Former Public Works Commissioner: Changes in the atmosphere at city hall set one former official thinking of a city on the move.
Former public works commissioner Ed Gass, who orchesrated two of the largest land purchases by the city in recent memory – or maybe ever – came to city hall June 20 to urge officials to rethink its bond issue plans.
If the city wants to buy and build, it should forget about a new swimming pool, buy the the large tract of undeveloped land on West Osage – on the city’s main thoroughfare – and spend part of every week wooing light industrial and commercial developers that are growing to look at Pacific.
Now seemed like the time to talk to the city and the voters, Gass said, because both city government and the citizens have signaled new thinking on the city making big moves that affect the future.
Gass said plans to ask voters to approve a $6 million bond issue to build a new swimming pool is the wrong project to ask tax payers to spend their money on. The right bond issue, he said, would raise funds to buy the 28+ acre undeveloped tract of Land on West Osage known locally as the Lazy Larry property, identified for the bargain store that was a regional landmark there in the 1960s and 1970s.
“If we’re willing to ask the voters to pay $6 million for something we should look at asking them to own something that could benefit the whole city and bring revenue.” Gass said.
And if done right the development could produce enough tax revenue to build a new swimming pool in the future.
Gass made the comments at the June 20 board of aldermen meeting and in a follow-up interview with Hometown Matters.
He said he would like to see the city to meet with the owner, find out what he wants for the property and try come up with a way to pay for it.
“My throughts would be to go in there and clean it up, strip it of the woods growing on it, lay it out in developable lots and spend part of every week contacting light industrial and commercial developers that are grwoing to get them to come out and look at that site,” Gass said. “The location right at the entrance to the intersection has got to be a plus to businesses looking for sites.”
Another plus is that it is located directly across West Osage from the tract where Wallis Oil is constructing a new Mobil on the Run on the corner lot. Adjacent to the Wallis project is another new business on the site of the former bowling alley property.
List price for the 28+ acre parcel is $9.7 million, but Gass believes that creative financing might reduce the city’s initial outlay, put the bond issue amount in reach of the voters and put the purchase within reach of the city. MORE Realtors is the listing real estate agency.
Now seemed like the time to talk with the city and the voters about developing that property, Gass said, because both city government and the citizens have signaled new thinking on the future of the city.
“Until recently there was just no interest in asking voters to pass a big bond issue,” Gass said. “But if we’re willing to ask the voters to pay $6 million for something that would benefit a small number of citizens for two months a year, we should look at asking them to own something that could benefit everybody and bring revenue long in the future.”
“If that property was developed part industrial, part commercial, those businesses would generate taxes that could eventually pay for a new swimming pool,” Gass said. “They would also bring employees to buy groceries and gas here and eat in our restaurants.”
Gass is no stranger to big ticket purchases by the city. He worked 41 years for Pacific from 1966 to 2007, and was public works commissioner for the last 30 to those years. He later served three terms as alderman representing Ward One.
In 2001, as public works commissioner, Gass persuaded Mayor Jill Pigg to approve the plan that he orchestrated the purchase of the property that created Liberty Field. The city bought the ground from the heirs of the late Lloyd Duncan for $53,000. Part of the negotiation of the purchase price included the city naming the south entry road into the park for Duncan and building a stone and brass entrance monument at the north entrance that also recognized Duncan.
The board of aldermen rubber stamped the transaction by approving the purchase with an ordinance dated November 6, 2001.
In 2006, Gass persuaded Mayor Herb Adams to approve a plan for him to negotiate for the city to buy a tract of undeveloped land that Boys Town of Missouri owned located north of Jefferson Street and South of Brush Creek at the city park.
The seller Great Circle, a not for profit organization that was the successors to Boys town had no use for the property tucked between an industrial area and the creek that bordered City Park. They agreed to accept a nominal down payment and the promise of payment for each section of the property as the city sold it to developers. Aldermen approved the unique purchase agreement with an ordinance dated September 19, 2006.
That purchase increased the size of the Meramec Industrial Park. Six industrial plants now operate on properties purchased in the ‘pay-as-the- lots-are-sold’ plan. Those industrial plants add to the tax base and their employees have become part of the customer base for local stores, fueling stations and restaurants.
The undeveloped tract on West Osage has far greater possiblities for development, Gass said, because of its location opposite the I-44 entrance.
The city is not in the Reality Business But the city has a person who is being paid 100K plus to bring business interest to our community Maybe he could do his job and the Lazy Larry Property could become productive!!!
I had reason to go to one of the big industrial parks west of Washington today. The Lazy Larry lot is too small for any modern industrial factory (You should see the size of some of those buildings and grounds off Bluff Road.) What it might be good for, though, is a hi-tech business incubator: a well-wired warren of office spaces, rentable by young entrepreneurs who need a T-1 line and enough wall plugs to safely attached devices for collaborative efforts as they try to woo investor capital in their ideas, and enough amenities to make the place attractive for use. That site, being on our ever-loving St. Peter sandstone is not going to be a high rise. (Same reason those efforts across the highway keep failing– the architects cannot think outside their boxes.) So: what industry *requires* the cushioning effects of lots of pure white sand? How about some glass-related hi-tech?
In former days, not only did we mine sand and ship it elsewhere, we also had industries based on it. Make it one huge sand volleyball facility, to replace the bowling alley. A frisbee golf course. A putt putt range that is mostly sand traps, with very small ‘greens.’ Think of what St. Charles does, charging wedding fees at Klondike Park.
Does no one have any imagination around here?
A T-1 line? Haha.
Location Location Location. I think Mr. Gass has an idea at least worth considering when asking voters to approve bonds to pay off debts. It does seem that in buying this land we will have purchased an investment that ultimately may yield us a profit to build a pool. I also understand that one person cannot bring investors into a city. It should be a collaborative effort spearheaded by the Mayor with a task force of City staff and volunteers. I believe this idea 💡 presented by one who has served and gotten results has merit.
Looking at $ 15 million in property cost, grading, and basic infrastructure cost, around 70 cents per hundred in property taxes for a bond issue.. If it was such a good idea the Ecklcamp’s would have jumped right to it when they bought the property about the time they were building Pilot truck stop.
A commercial real estate group should handle it at little cost to the tax payers since we are already paying $ 110,000 a year+ for a Economic Developer to eat doughnuts and gaze fondly in his mirror.
Nice Article! Hometown Matters Community News read this.
If that property were viable at the price currently listed, it would have been snatched up a long time ago. The price is too high so… let the city buy it and lose millions?? Last time I checked, real estate speculation and development was not the role of city government.
We have citizens and Aldermen concerned about the cost to property owners of a $6million pool and $3mil Red Cedar project- yet buying and developing an over-priced piece of land that will end up costing at least $15mil is something that should be considered?
Hard pass. Let commercial property developers do their job. If you want to do anything, make the property owners pay property tax on the listed value, not the assessed value. Afterall, that is what they claim the property is worth, take their word for it and assess properly. Bet that price comes down immediately to a more reasonable level and someone will develop it.