Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors

City of Lake Ozark Awarded $300,000 Community Development Block Grant for Demolition Project: Lake Ozark, MO — The City of Lake Ozark has been named the recipient of a $300,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) from the Missouri Department of Economic Development to support a $433,030 building demolition project focused on improving safety and redevelopment opportunities in the Bagnell Dam Strip area. The remaining $133,030 required to complete the project will be provided to the City by the property owner, Reese Development. As a result of the grant award, 23 structures on and around the historic Bagnell Dam Strip will be demolished. All properties included in the project are owned by Reese Development. Among the structures slated for demolition is the former Shoreland Motel located on the Bagnell Dam Strip. Additional buildings included in the project consist of a series of residential and commercial structures located along Carls Drive, Ballenger Road, Thornsberry Road, Beach Drive, and School Road. These structures were determined eligible for CDBG funding due to their advanced state of blight and lack of structural safety, in accordance with adopted building codes. Several of the buildings contain asbestos and other environmental contaminants, and all have been formally certified by the City as dangerous buildings. Buildings were prioritized based on safety concerns, structural deterioration, and overall risk to the public. To qualify for the grant, each structure was required to have been vacant for an extended period of time. Demolition work associated with this project is expected to commence in 2026. “We are proud to partner with the City of Lake Ozark and the Missouri Department of Economic Development to continue the momentum of the last two years on the historic Bagnell Dam Strip,” stated Peter Colovos, Chief Operating Officer of Reese Development. “Brick by brick and block by block we are committed to redeveloping this jewel of the Midwest,” he added. Reese Development has invested more than $600,000 over the last two years in cleaning up the Strip and demolishing dilapidated structures. City Administrator Harrison Fry expressed appreciation for the state’s support:“We are grateful to the State of Missouri for recognizing the opportunity to breathe new life into the Bagnell Dam Strip corridor. This project begins by removing long-standing, dilapidated structures so that safe, meaningful redevelopment can move forward. I would also like to thank Reese Development for their cooperation and commitment to property revitalization, as well as grant writer Tonya Raines for preparing a successful application that made this project possible.” For more information, please contact the City of Lake Ozark.

TEST TW WEATHER

Posted on by dan

City working on plan to fix trash issues on The Strip

A long-standing trash issue on The Strip in Lake Ozark could have a solution in the works.

City officials are working with Lake of the Ozarks Solid Waste Management District T officials to figure out a way to get trash receptacles out of public view, and to get overflowing trash off The Strip. The number of trash dumpsters is inadequate to handle the volume of trash created by businesses as The Strip has welcomed near-record numbers of visitors, and the topography of the narrow Strip most often prohibits trash dumpsters from being placed behind businesses.

Paramount to moving forward with any plan is extending the current contract with Green For Life Environmental, Inc. (GFL), which expires February 2022. GFL recently bought out WCA, the city’s long-time refuse company. The city administrator or his designee has been authorized by the board of aldermen to negotiate a new contract.

This isn’t the first time trash and sanitation concerns have been on the table for the board of aldermen.

Board minutes from June and August 2008 show that aldermen discussed trash left on public property as a violation of the city’s nuisance ordinance. A committee was formed by then-mayor Johnnie Franzeskos to consider solutions to removing trash containers from the city’s right of way and out of the public’s view. 

At the Oct. 13, 2020, board meeting then-mayor Gerry Murawski noted he was in talks with the District T staff to develop a glass recycling program for restaurants on The Strip. He was voted out of office six months later before he was able to move forward with a plan.

 

Proposed plan

Any overall sanitation plan would have to be approved by the board of aldermen.

A committee has been formed to review the existing sanitation system which is managed by GFL. The focus of the committee is to make recommendations for improvements such as aesthetics, recycling where practical, cost savings opportunities and available grants to offset improvement costs.

Estimated setup cost could be as much as $67,250, with the city’s investment estimated at $49,000. Under the proposal, the city would begin billing for commercial accounts. Currently, the city only bills for residential accounts and commercial businesses work directly with GFL/WCA.

When the current contract expires in 2022, city officials anticipate a significant increase in trash pickup costs from the sanitation company due to increased steel and fuel costs.

According to the sanitation plan, developed by Derrick Standley, regional director of the Lake of the Ozarks Solid Waste Management District T, extending the current contract for another year gives the city time to develop the proposed plan.

He said the city’s sanitation plan was developed to handle about five million visitors each year, and that has grown to more than 10 million by some estimates. 

 

Highlights include

•City to take control of billing for commercial customers. 

This action could result in consolidation of trash containers; increase appearance; combined with recycling will lower the cost of enclosures and concrete pads; generate revenue that could pay for the cost of enclosures and concreter pads.

•Construct concrete pads and enclosures for trash receptacles. 

Pads and enclosures would allow for greater aesthetics as well as creation of several additional parking spaces in key tourist areas. The cost of adding these in three key areas on Bagnell Dam Blvd. is about $50,000. That cost would be absorbed by revenue generated because of the city taking over billing services and the overall reduced cost of basic services.

•Implement expanded commercial recycling.

Create a voluntary expanded recycling program for local businesses. About 85 percent of the weight of all trash material generated is considered recoverable (recyclable). By separating the collection of recyclables from the existing waste contract with the city, the Solid Waste Management Region will be able to set up recycling within each business on a voluntary basis. Each participating business would be provided containers for glass, corrugated cardboard, and aluminum recycling.

The recyclable material would be taken to the Laclede Industries Recycling Center where they would be processed and transported for recycling. This service will reduce the amount of waste produced and ultimately control sanitation costs on a long-term basis, according to the plan.