Category Archives: Missouri economy

Missouri PSC asserts jurisdiction over one tiny utility company, but many others escape

Posted on June 24, 2009 by Harry Styron

Water and sewer services to residences and businesses are essential. Most of us take for granted that the operations of those who provide these services are reliable and are regulated. In reality, many water and sewer providers fall through several holes in Missouri’s statutory framework of regulation by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC).

DNR’s regulations

DNR sets engineering standards for water wells, treatment and storage facilities, and distribution systems (mains and valves). DNR licenses well drillers and maintains a registry describing each water well, based on data required to be submitted by well drillers. DNR does not regulate rates charged by water sellers, but does require that permanent entity (called a “continuing authority”) be established for each water system serving more than 15 users. A continuing authority for water is required to show DNR that it has the technical, managerial and financial capacity to operate the system, or at least that’s what the rules say. DNR implements its regulations by requiring submittal of engineering plans for the issuance of construction permits and certfications from private engineers that water and sewer facilities are completed according to the approved plans before issuance of operating and discharge permits. DNR also licenses operators of water and sewer facilities. Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted in economic development, homeowner association, Missouri, Missouri economy, Missouri law, Ozarks, Ozarks economy, real estate development, real estate law and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Fathers of my understanding of the Ozarks

Posted on June 21, 2009 by Harry Styron

Someone looking at my life could correctly observe that my life’s work has consisted of absorbing all I can about the history, economy and people of the Ozarks. I began this undertaking as a youngster at the Newton County Library in Neosho in about 1960, probably with a book by Vance Randolph or the Chapmans’ Indians and Archaeology of Missouri.

Much of what I have learned about life in the Ozarks has come from living and working in the Ozarks. But what I’ve learned from books and scholars has given me a mental framework for organizing what I have learned and helps me to be a better observer. Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted in Branson, economic development, Missouri, Missouri economy, Ozarks, Ozarks economy. Bookmark the permalink.

Table Rock Lake and the cost of economic activity

Posted on June 7, 2009 by Harry Styron

Kathleen O’Dell’s article about the economic impact of Table Rock Lake in today’s Springfield News-Leader, entitled “Table Rock Dam Gives Much Back to Area,” covers a lot of ground in describing the various kinds of economic activities that are related to the construction and continued existence of Table Rock Lake.

In an economic sense, is the Table Rock Lake area fit (efficient and nimble) or obese (expensive to maintain and subject to falls)? As pointed out below, the two counties most affected by Table Rock Lake have experienced the area’s lowest growth in Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted in Branson, county government, economic development, Missouri, Missouri economy, Ozarks, Ozarks economy, real estate development, Taney County, tourism, water law (streams, lakes and groundwater) and tagged , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

The case of the disappearing plaintiff

Posted on May 27, 2009 by Harry Styron

Why would a plaintiff (the party who files a suit) fail to show up for trial? How long should a court keep the suit alive, if the plaintiff doesn’t seem to care?

In a recent opinion, Springfield’s Southern District of the Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed the trial judge’s determination that it a plaintiff who failed to show up for trial could not have another chance to assert its rights three years later. The losers here, named Kissee, filed a suit against E-Z Pawn for the recovery of jewelry left there for cleaning.

When the Kissees failed to show up for the trial, the trial judge merely noted in the court records that they failed to show. Nearly a year later, the pawnshop’s attorney sent a cash settlement offer to the Kissees, but apparently that letter did not lead to a settlement.

Six months later, Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted in Missouri economy, Missouri law, Ozarks economy and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Beautiful bridges of the Ozarks

Posted on May 11, 2009 by Harry Styron

Who doesn’t love a bridge? Other than the ferry operator, who lost a job.

Miranda recently commented on this blog that she missed the photo of the Taneycomo bridge between Branson and Hollister that I used to have at the top of this page.

Here’s a larger view of it:
cropped-img_02963.jpg

On Sunday morning, I put my boat in upper Bull Shoals at the River Run ramp at Forsyth, next to the Missouri Highway 76 bridge. Here’s that bridge:
Hwy 76 bridge over Bull Shoals

Just upstream are the two bridges at the mouth of Swan Creek at Shadow Rock Park. A year ago, the lower bridge in the foreground was submerged Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted in Missouri, Missouri economy, Ozarks, Ozarks economy and tagged , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Good luck with that foreclosure, MERS members

Posted on March 4, 2009 by Harry Styron

A Missouri appellate court, without trying, may have drawn a map to a defense to foreclosures–if borrowers can figure it out before the Missouri Supreme Court overturns the decision in Bellistri v Ocwen. The opinion shows how an assignment of a loan to a servicing company for collection can actually make the loan uncollectible from the mortgaged property. Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted in Missouri economy, Missouri law, Ozarks economy, property tax, real estate law and tagged , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Eureka School District loses TIF battle

Posted on February 25, 2009 by Harry Styron

School districts are the natural enemies of tax-increment financing projects (TIFs). The TIF designation of a redevelopment area limits a school district’s share of the increases in property taxes that occur in that redevelopment area, diverting what would have been the school district’s share of property taxes to paying for a portion of the developer’s cost of infrastructure.

On February 24, 2009, Missouri’s Eastern District Court of Appeals issued its opinion Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted in economic development, Missouri, Missouri economy, Missouri law, Ozarks economy, real estate development and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.
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