Mayor’s Weekly Update
May 28, 2010
The week started off with a rather lengthy Council session this past Monday. Several significant
matters were addressed by the Council. In closed session Council was given an update on the
current legal courses of action with regards to the PWSD-3 law suit against the City. While I can
not go into the specific discussions of the closed session, I can report that the Council was very
disheartened by the recent comments of the PWSD3 Board President stating that the PWSD3
will continue to pursue its legal actions against the City of Lebanon despite the recent rulings of
the 8th US District Court of Appeals against PWSD3. The general feelings expressed by Council
members were that these actions by PWSD3 are illogical and not in the best interests of the
citizens and patrons of PWSD3 and the City of Lebanon. That this issue will only worsen with
significantly detrimental financial impact on both sides. This is hurting the growth and
economic future of Lebanon and all of Laclede County. Neither entity will grow and prosper as
long as this continues. It is hurting all of our citizens.
The Council was given a report on the recent city-wide power outage and the City’s response.
One of the key areas of concern was the need to supply emergency power to both City and
County communications facilities and the County’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) as
none of the three locations have installed emergency backup generator capability. The City
EOC, Police Department, and Police Dispatch facility had automatic back up power that worked
flawlessly. Coordination between the County and City Offices of Emergency Management
(OEMs) was excellent and was instrumental in quickly addressing and resolving issues as they
arose. City Electric Department response was excellent and power was quickly restored to
critical facilities such as the hospital and jail. However, the lack of radio communications
hampered response and slowed restoration operations. The City’s recently Council-approved
and implemented Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) was tested for the first time and worked
well. The City was also forced to execute portions of the Continuity of Operations Plan
(COOP); which also proved to be a good plan.
The Council re-visited its approval of the City communications tower project. The Council
received technical reports on the feasibility of the tower project and had the opportunity to
question two subject matter experts on the project. Comments were also received from our
Police Chief, Fire Chief, and Public Works Director supporting the urgency and need for the
communications tower. Council voted to continue with the project as previously approved. The
vote was 6 in favor and 2 opposed (Council members Goforth and Hurney opposing).
The Civic Center has been rather busy this last week with the Heart of the Ozarks Summer Blast.
A well attended event sponsored by O’Reilly Auto Parts. Some really nice automobiles were
shown. Our thanks to O’Reilly Auto Parts for their sponsorship and the owners of these great
cars for coming out as well as all of the folks that were there. The Home Cooking Show was a
sell-out on Tuesday evening. Another good event that helps fund our Civic Center. The City
was very proud and pleased to host a regional Missouri Municipal Legal meeting on the same
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Mayor’s Weekly Update
May 28, 2010
evening. It was a great opportunity to show case the Civic Center to mayors, council members,
and city administrators. All were very impressed with the facility, the crowd, and our YMCA.
We are continuing to have a very active spring storm season with strong thunderstorms, high
winds, and tornados a continuing threat. With these heavy rains a number of people are
beginning to take notice of the need to keep storm runoffs clear of growth and debris. This helps
all of us in preventing local flooding. We appreciate those efforts. There are those however, that
continue to leave grass clippings on the roadway. These clippings are presenting problems by
draining into the storm runoff system with the heavy rains. The clippings clump in the storms
drains and when they dry out become almost cement-like in the drain causing clogging and
backup. This causes flooding on our roads, into yards and homes and creates other hazards for
all of us. The expense of cleaning these drains is high and depletes scarce fiscal resources that
could be better applied in other areas. City compliance officers are issuing citations to
individuals that leave their grass clippings in the roadway.
With the Memorial Day weekend here, a reminder to all the Lebanon Police Department will be
conducting sobriety check points at various locations throughout the City over the weekend.
Please do not drink and drive.
Have a pleasant and enjoyable weekend and please be safe.
City Council meets again on the 14th of June 2010, 7PM, Council Chambers, City Hall.
If you wish to make a comment, ask a question, express a concern, or make an appointment to speak with
me; please feel free to e-mail me at mayor@lebanonmo.org or call City Hall 417-532-2156 for an
appointment.
Respectfully,
CP Craig
Mayor
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