Year in review
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
During the second week in June, Maryville City Manager Greg McDanel, left, and Kawasaki Motors Plant Manager and Vice President Steve Bratt surveyed the vast concrete floor of a 100,800-square-foot addition to the small-engine manufacturing facility located just inside Maryville’s south city limits. Bratt said he expected the expansion to be complete late this year with production in the new space beginning sometime in early 2016.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first of two special reports from the Maryville Daily Forum presenting summaries of the top-10 local news stories of 2015.
Summaries one through five appear in Monday’s paper, and summaries six through 10 will be published Tuesday.
It’s been a topsy-turvy year in Nodaway County with big stories breaking on all fronts: from crime and controversy to multi-million-dollar advances in municipal infrastructure and economic development.
And, as usual in northwest Missouri, the weather claimed its share of headlines as well. So here’s a look back at the highs and lows of the last 12 months.
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Kawasaki expansion: Tax deal fuels growth at local plant
MARYVILLE, Mo. — After five months of rumor, negotiation, and debate the City Council voted unanimously on March 30 to accept an Industrial Development Revenue Bond tax abatement package designed to finance a $25.5 million expansion at the Maryville small-engine plant operated by Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing Corp. U.S.A.
The expansion adds 100,800 square feet of mostly production space to the facility and will create an estimated 30 new jobs.
Late in 2014, Kawasaki announced plans to voluntarily annex itself into the city limits, citing a desire to be a “good corporate citizen.” It was only later revealed that the annexation was part and parcel of a tax deal with City Hall that turned out to be a precondition for the factory’s expansion plans.
Under terms of the agreement, both Kawasaki’s existing facility and the expansion, including new fixtures and machinery, were transferred to city ownership, with the corporation paying rent equivalent to principal and interest over the 10-year life of the bonds, which were issued by the city and purchased by Kawasaki.
The agreement exempts Kawasaki from all real property and personal property (machinery, fixtures and equipment) taxes for 10 years, with the exception of personal property taxes assessed on equipment in the existing plant.
However, in order to preserve a portion of the revenue streams of various taxing entities, and especially the Maryville R-II School District, Kawasaki agreed to make payments in lieu of taxes equivalent to the 2014 assessed valuation of its real property and 50 percent of the property taxes anticipated over 10 years on $18.5 million in equipment purchases for the expansion.
Prior to the climactic council vote, then-Maryville schools Superintendent Larry Linthacum argued that
depreciation on existing Kawasaki personal property, in addition to the closure of the Energizer battery plant, had cost the district more than a half-million dollars a year in tax revenue.
Josh McKim, executive director of Nodaway County Economic Development, however, described the abatement plan as “an ideal project” and “economic development at its best.”
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New road to Northwest: City, campus celebrate streetscape
MARYVILLE, Mo. — The sound of smooth jazz and the smell of sizzling hotdogs and hamburgers filled West Fourth Street on the evening of June 15 beneath the gateway arch of the newly completed streetscape linking downtown Maryville with the main entrance to Northwest Missouri State University.
At least 400 people, many of them families with young children, turned out for a “block party” celebrating completion of the $1.9 million project, which took three years to plan and more than a year to finish.
As heavy clouds and the threat of rain gave way to bits of scattered blue sky, university President John Jasinski and City Manager Greg McDanel both addressed the large crowd.
Both men spoke of how the project moved forward largely because of unprecedented cooperation between City Hall and the university administration, including a significant financial contribution from Northwest that helped cover design costs.
Jasinski said the new avenue, which includes a paved pedestrian path, landscaping, vintage-style streetlamps, decorative brickwork, lamppost medallions bearing the Northwest logo, banners and wheelchair-friendly curb ramps, was a tribute to “the art of the possible,” “leadership action” and a “strategic and strong relationship with the city of Maryville.”
McDanel echoed Jasinski’s comments by saying the Fourth Street project represented a “strong and renewed partnership” between Maryville and the university.
He added that what began several years ago as a discussion about bringing sidewalks into compliance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act soon evolved into a much more comprehensive dialogue about improving aesthetics along the corridor and creating a true community gateway.
The finished project, he said, “embodies the spirit of Maryville and its affinity with Northwest.”
Later last summer, the project achieved statewide recognition as representatives from the city, Northwest, and the Maryville Downtown Improvement Organization accepted the Outstanding Public Partner Award during a banquet hosted by Missouri Main Street Connection in Kansas City.
The award specifically recognized the city for assembling a multi-entity partnership that led to construction of the Fourth Street corridor.
McDanel, who was in attendance, said such success stories show that downtown revitalization is possible by following Missouri Main Street’s four-tier approach that emphasizes organization, promotion, preservation, and economic restructuring and investment.
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Green and go: State certifies new treatment plant
MARYVILLE, Mo. — City Manager Greg McDanel announced July 1 that Maryville’s new $13.7 million wastewater treatment plant was operational and compliant with all requisite regulatory agencies.
McDanel said the effluent gate was open, and the mechanical facility was successfully discharging cleansed water into the One Hundred and Two River under a new permit issued by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
Official notice that the plant had passed regulatory muster came at 10:17 a.m. Wednesday, July 1, the final day of a grace period allowed by MoDNR before the city faced the possibility of punitive fines.
Issuance of a state permit means Maryville now meets key provisions specified by both the Missouri Clean Water Law and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act.
The history of the new plant, which replaces a decades-old system of settling lagoons, goes back to 2009, when the state declared its intention to enforce new limits on ammonia imposed by both MoDNR and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
After an initial preliminary plant design, which would have partially preserved the lagoon system, proved unworkable, the city, in 2012, hired HDR Engineering to provide regulatory support, facility design and construction services related to the creation of a fully mechanical plant.
“The services provided by HDR Engineering have been crucial to the success of the project since day one,” Public Works Director C.E. Goodall said. “The plant has also been designed with a look toward the future.”
McDanel said the facility is designed to process 2 million gallons of sewage a day, and that the city currently generates about 1.7 million gallons. The extra capacity, he said, means the plant will be able to handle additional volume created by population growth or industrial development.
In April 2012, Maryville voters approved a $13.7 million bond issue to pay for the plant, and the city hired David E. Ross Construction, of Raytown, to serve as general contractor.
“Substantial completion of the plant marks a significant achievement for our community,” McDanel said. “Faced with strict deadlines and unfavorable weather conditions, the plant is now operational.”
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Bearcat dynasty: Northwest claims fifth national title
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — For the fifth time in program history, and the second time in three years, confetti rained down on the Northwest Missouri State University football team Saturday, Dec. 20, at the end of another dream season for one of Division II’s truly powerhouse teams.
The outcome was hardly in doubt from the moment of kickoff as the Bearcats trounced the Shepherd University Rams 34-7 in front of a D-2 championship record crowd of 16,181 at Sporting Park.
Sophomore running back Jordan Grove scored on the third play of the game to help Northwest seal a 24-0 lead at halftime, one that easily held up behind yet another powerful defensive effort.
“It’s just a whirlwind,” head coach Adam Dorrel wheezed without much voice left shortly after the game. “It’s just like a dream right now. I feel like I’ve been here before and we’ve won a championship.”
That’s the thing. Dorrel had, in a way, already watched his team play at Sporting Park.
Dorrel sat in one of the stadium’s 18,467 seats last spring while taking in a Sporting KC game. As he watched players maneuver the ball up and down the pitch, he couldn’t stop picturing a different image on the same field.
He admitted that he felt pressure when it was announced in 2013 that the Division II football national championship game would be played in that venue, one just 100 miles from Bearcat Stadium in Maryville.
But as he felt the aura of a Major League Soccer stadium, a location that he knew would be the penultimate goal for a Division II football team to reach, he couldn’t help but picture Bearcat green — rather than Sporting blue — filling those 18,467 seats.
“It was the first time I’d ever been to this venue in an event,” Dorrel said. “I remember trying not to think about it too much, but I was like, ‘Man, this would be unbelievable.’ It was everything I expected it to be.”
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Revving up: Tri State shifts into growth gear
MARYVILLE, Mo. — Early in 2015 it had been an open secret for months that something big was going on at Tri State Ford Lincoln on South Main Street in Maryville.
Land was bought and subdivided, buildings were torn down, new steel-frame construction went up, and acres of dirt were moved, flattened, and shaped — all activities associated with a major construction project.
So what was the big secret?
In a nutshell, Tri State President Todd Hill decided the time had come to grow, and grow in a big way.
So he purchased seven acres of land immediately south of the existing dealership, a tract that included Kizer Collision & Heavy Recovery and a former barbecue restaurant torn down last year.
Kizer has since built a larger facility a few hundred yards to the southeast on South Hills Drive, and Tri State is erecting a new state-of-the art dealership just south of its current location.
And if that weren’t big enough news for the local business community, Hill announced in May that he had completed negotiations to bring a Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram dealership to Maryville.
The new sales operation augments a multi-million-dollar expansion that is returning a Ford showroom to Maryville for the first time in several years.
Overall, the enlarged sales and service complex will occupy 17.8 acres on South Main, including the Ford Lincoln dealership that by itself will encompass nearly 25,000 square feet. An outdoor display area, to be lit with LED fixtures, will provide room for as many as 500 vehicles, Hill said.
During construction, scheduled for completion in 2016, the Ford operation has remained headquartered in its current location, while the new Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram dealership temporarily set up shop in the former Kizer facility.
When the new structure is finished, the Chrysler offices will move into the current Ford building.
Ford and Chrysler sales and service operations will be independent of one another, but the two carmakers have agreed to allow Hill to operate a combined parts department.
In addition to a showroom, the enlarged Ford dealership will comprise on-site and Internet sales offices and a large-scale service operation embracing 15 bays, five of which will make up Ford Quick Lane, a while-you-wait scheduled maintenance shop servicing all makes and models.
PHIL COBB/DAILY FORUM
Back in March, the Maryville City Council approved a tax abatement plan for the Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing Corp. plant under which the city now legally owns the Kawasaki facility and grounds over the 10-year life of $25.5 million in Industrial Development Revenue Bonds. Proceeds from the bonds are being used to finance a major expansion at the small-engine factory.
STAFF PHOTO
Among the highlights of 2015 was completion of the West Fourth Street pedestrian corridor linking downtown to the main entrance to Northwest Missouri State University. Municipal and Northwest officials described the project as marking an unprecedented level of cooperation between town and gown.
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Maryville City Manager Greg McDanel addresses a large crowd back in June, including Bobby Bearcat, who journeyed downtown for the grand opening of the new pedestrian corridor along West Fourth Street. In addition to Bearcat paws inlaid into the pavement, the street now boasts a paved pedestrian path, landscaping, vintage-style streetlamps, decorative brickwork, lamppost medallions bearing the Northwest logo, banners, and wheelchair-friendly curb ramps.
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Larry Rosanbalm of Dave Ross Construction, left, gestures toward the inside of one of two massive clarifier tanks at the new municipal wastewater treatment plant under construction east of town. Also pictured are City Councilman Jerry Riggs, City Manager Greg McDanel, City Councilman Jason McDowell, Human Resources Manager Amy Strough and Public Safety Director Keith Wood.
DALTON VITT/DAILY FORUM
The Northwest football team finished its 2015 season 15-0 with a 34-7 win over Shepherd on Saturday, Dec. 19, at Sporting Park in the NCAA Division II championship game. It was the fifth national championship in program history.
DALTON VITT/DAILY FORUM
Bearcats junior defensive backs Kevin Berg, left, and Jack Young show off their new championship apparel on Saturday, Dec. 19, at Sporting Park after the Northwest football team finished the season 15-0 with a 34-7 win over Shepherd to secure the fifth Division II national championship in program history.
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Tri State Ford Lincoln President Todd Hill gazes across the future site of his new dealership facility, scheduled for completion in 2016. Hill learned how to operate heavy equipment while growing up on a farm near Weston, and he and other family members performed much of the dirt work for the planned 27,000-square-foot building themselves.
