City expects $72,084 check as 20‑acre lawsuit comes to an end

City Attorney Troy Salchow gladly reported Monday that the legal dispute over 20 acres in the Centennial Retail and Industrial Park is “99.9% over.”

All that’s left now is for the Jasper County Circuit Court to cut a check to the city for $$72,084. That’s half of the $144,169 price paid to purchase the long swath of property on the east side of the railroad tracks from East Daugherty Street to Highway 171.

The other half will be paid to 3rd Row Entertainment, the firm that initially obtained the property for $20.25 ($1 per acre) from the city with plans to build a movie theater. Those plans were disrupted by the pandemic.

Webb City filed a lawsuit against 3rd Row Entertainment on Jan. 9, 2023. And on Feb. 10, 2023, 3rd Row filed a counterclaim for breach of contract.

Legal actions were delayed until the city and 3rd Row agreed to split the proceeds from the sale of the property.

Bids to purchase the property were accepted, with an initial deadline of April 26.

Salchow said there’s no word on what the buyer plans to do with the property.

Zora Street cooperation agreement approved

Webb City will pay Joplin $100,000 as construction contracts are awarded for each of the three phases of the upcoming East Zora Street improvement projet.

The total $300,000 is part of the contract that the council authorized.

City Administrator Carl Francis noted that he negotiated to have the payments due when the phases begin instead of all at once.

The first phase will be construction of the roundabout at Zora Street and Hall Street/Duquesne Road. Webb City’s $100,000 obligation for that is included in the current budget’s capital improvement projects.

The second phase will widen of Zora Street, primarily for truck traffic, from the roundabout to Missouri 249. And the third phase will improve Zora Street from the roundabout to Range Line Road.

In other action, the council:

• Approved Police Chief Don Melton’s request to increase pay by $1 per hour for police and dispatchers assigned to the overnight shift (6 p.m. to 6 a.m.) Melton said the additional pay should help retain and recruit officers and dispatchers.

The plan will cost an estimated $5,760 for the rest of the current fiscal year (through October) and $25,000 for the 2025 fiscal year.

• Approved the $3,950 purchase of a 22-foot Stag trailer to transport mowers two-at-a-time around the park system. Bryan Waggoner, director of parks and recreation, said the trailer will be better than driving the mowers to different locations.

• Was informed the Blevins Asphalt bill for the recent street paving came in at $1,351,259 – $77,384 less than the estimated cost of $1,428,643. The final price included some additional small projects, such as a section of pavement on the south end of the main (farmers market) pavilion in King Jack Park.

• Approved Ragsdale’s appointment of Carroll Poole to serve a two-year term on the Webb City Housing Authority Board of Directors.