Forum Flashbacks: April 15-21

FORUM FILE PHOTO
15 years ago – Within two weeks, gas prices across Maryville increased by 27 cents, up to an average of $2.729 per gallon. The preliminary thoughts that gasoline prices would reach the $3 range by summer are becoming more realistic every day. How high will the prices soar this year?

25 years ago

• At a recent joint meeting, the board of directors of Nodaway Worth Electric Cooperative, Inc., Maryville, and Northwest Missouri Electric Cooperative, Inc., Savannah voted unanimously to support a consolidation of the two electric utilities.
  The cooperative member-owners will vote on the consolidation at their respective 1996 annual meetings (Nodaway Worth Electric, Aug. 1 and Northwest Missouri Electric, Aug. 29).
• The Maryville R-II School District has not received $304,060.52 in real estate, personal property and commercial taxes this year, because of a tax protest.
  Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing Corp. has protested the assessed valuation placed both on real estate and personal property, following reassessment last year. Kawasaki is appealing for more than a $15.5 million adjustment in true market value of personal property.
  The appraised value of Kawasaki, as appraised by Nodaway County Assessor Pat Nelson, is $7,465,200 for real estate. The value Kawasaki wants the appraisal to be reduced to is $3,950,000. The assessed valuation for real property is $2,388,865. Kawasaki is appealing to have the assessed valuation reduced to $1,225,000.

15 years ago

• Nodaway-Holt Elementary school in Maitland will be reaching out to more 3- and 4-year-old children this fall with the addition of a preschool to their elementary school classes.
  “We have wanted for the past several years to try to reach the kids who do not have access to preschool,” Principal Karma Coleman said. “We support the Maitland Head Start Center 100 percent, and our intentions are not to take students away from them. We want to provide an opportunity to kids who do not qualify for Head Start to have a preschool experience.”
  There are 10 students enrolled so far, and preschool classes will be five days a week.

5 years ago

• Though construction won’t begin until at least next year, Sheriff Darren White is moving forward with preliminary planning for converting the Nodaway County jail’s 40-foot by 20- foot exercise yard into additional cell space.
  The Nodaway County Commission has set aside design funds for the project in this year’s budget, and White said Tuesday he has been in contact with several architectural firms who specialize in jail construction.
  He said one of those firms has already been on site, but that few details about how the conversion might be carried out have been proposed. The county has yet to issue a formal request-for-proposals.
  “We’re just putting it out there to people in the business to see what they think,” White said.
  The sheriff discussed roofing and remodeling the open-air yard, which is enclosed by high concrete walls and topped with razor wire, with the County Commission earlier this year. The hope is that converting the area to cell space will help relieve periodic overcrowding that often has more to do with jail demographics than total numbers.
  When the jail was built back in 1985, it was designed to accommodate two or three female prisoners at most. But these days, housing a dozen or more women in the county lockup is not uncommon.
  White said it is a “pretty rare” day when the jail’s women’s area is not at or above capacity.
• In the first Jefferson C-123 Board of Education meeting since the April 5 election, Superintendent Tim Jermain shared the next steps regarding the construction of a new gymnasium.
  A $1.5 million general obligation bond passed to finance the construction of the facility after six unsuccessful runs on the ballot.
  Jermain said within the week, the district will distribute information via press release about selling bonds to local investors through L.J. Hart & Company of St. Louis.
  Once Ellison-Auxier Architects, Inc. surveys the site and takes soil samples, Jermain said he will have a better idea of the project timetable. After that, the architects will submit preliminary drawings for the project.
  Jermain said the contract stated that construction is scheduled to begin this summer and be completed by the summer of 2017.