Council majority opts for lake study

TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
In a divided vote, the Maryville City Council on Monday approved entering into a contract with Idaho-based Economic Modeling Specialists International for creation of a study gauging the economic impact of Mozingo Lake Recreation Park. Mayor Renee Riedel and Councilman Jerry Riggs voted against proceeding with the unbudgeted study during the current fiscal year, saying its findings would be rendered obsolete by proposed construction of a hotel near the lake’s Sechrest 18 golf course.

For the first time since launching an ongoing effort to “re-brand” Mozingo Lake Recreation Park as a regional recreation destination, the Maryville City Council this week displayed less than a united front with regard to a staff proposal designed to enlist public support for the 3,000-acre golf and boating playground whose 1,000-acre reservoir serves as the city’s water supply.

The council passed the measure, 3-2, with both Mayor Renee Riedel and Councilman Jerry Riggs voting against paying up to $26,000 in unbudgeted Mozingo Recreation Fund reserves for an economic impact study by Idaho-based Economic Modeling Specialists International.

Earlier this year, EMSI performed a similar analysis for Northwest Missouri State University that set the school’s economic footprint at $617 million in terms of “added regional income.”

The report is being used by Northwest as a marketing tool in an attempt to spur private donations, grant awards, legislative support and recruitment.

The study was commissioned by the Northwest administration for $29,000.

City Manager Greg McDanel and Assistant City Manager Ryan Heiland, who is responsible for overseeing operations and development at the city-owned park, are hoping the Mozingo analysis will provide a similar tool in the run-up to an election, probably in April 2016, in which voters will be asked to renew the half-cent Mozingo sales tax.

McDanel has called the tax, which is used to subsidize park maintenance, staffing, services and facilities, including the Sechrest 18 and as-yet-unopened Watson 9 golf courses, essential to Mozingo’s future.

During Monday’s regular council meeting, he argued that the EMSI study needed to proceed as soon as possible while the park is still experiencing peak warm-weather usage.

McDanel, who rarely seeks to steer the council toward a decision except on fiscal grounds or by making recommendations based on established policy, said failing to fast-track the economic impact analysis could lead to a missed opportunity in terms of using the study’s results during the sales tax renewal campaign.

Municipal Finance Director Denise Town said Tuesday that the tax, set to expire in June 2017, is expected to bring in more than $930,000 during the city’s current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.

Following McDanel’s recommendation, Riggs countered that Mozingo already enjoys wide popular support, and that the city would be better off investing in “hard assets” that would improve facilities and services for patrons.

He added that the recent announcement by Boulders Inn & Suites of Denison, Iowa, with regard to a proposed hotel at the lake will quickly render the study obsolete. The $3.2 million project is being financed by a group of area investors calling itself Boulders Inn Maryville, LLC.

“In light of the new development, I think that the study would be outdated rather quickly,” Riggs said.

For her part, Riedel questioned if the study would have much impact on the election, and agreed with Riggs that an analysis of the lake’s effect on the local economy prior to completion of the hotel will mean little.

Though he ultimately joined the three-member majority in supporting completion of the study this year, Councilman Tim Shipley said before the vote that the lake has already demonstrated its value.

“Mozingo has already proven itself,” he said.

Councilman Jason McDowell, who along with Council Member Rachael Martin, also voted for moving forward with the EMSI analysis, said the study might “help put some numbers behind why the lake is successful.”