Sewer backups, stormwater regs put city in a bind
A large crowd showed up to the Boone County Commission chambers Wednesday night to discuss a dirty topic: sewer overflows and their connection with recent stormwater regulations mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency. A three-person panel of Bill Weitkemper, Columbia sewer superintendent; Karen Miller, Boone County southern district commissioner; and Ken Midkiff, conservation chair of Read More …
By: admin
Council clears way for huge downtown apartment
City Council’s Monday-night-approval of zoning enabling a 100-unit, four-story apartment building could well boost downtown’s population by nearly 300 people next year. The City Council unanimously gave the go ahead to rezone 2.5 acres from residential to open commercial at the corner of College Avenue and Walnut Street. The Odle family, owners of Trittenbach Development, Read More …
By: admin
Elton John? Seriously?
Like 17 bazillion other bloggers, I couldn’t resist discussing the annual parade of Super Bowl ads. My marketing junky personality demands an outlet, so here goes. My initial impression is the traditions of excellent Super Bowl ads may have ran its course. For the second year in a row I am extremely disappointed with the creativeness and the overall Read More …
By: Joe Schmitter
2 responses11 Questions for Every Business Owner/Manager/Leader
What does your business stand for? Besides making a profit, why does your business exist? Why should anyone else care? What differentiates you from your competition? (If your answer is “because we care more” or “because we’re better” you need to try again.) Do your employees/team/staff know what your vision is? If I call them Read More …
By: Joe Schmitter
Council cracks down on rental units
The city beefed up its oversight of rental units Tuesday night, though one council member expressed concern that the new regulations would be too onerous on landlords. The council voted 5-2 to amend the city code to keep a rental permit from being transferred to a new owner when a property is sold. New owners Read More …
By: admin
City sticks with building code commission’s regs
The City Council Tuesday night decided against hiring an outside consultant to review revised building codes recently finished by the 20-member Building Construction Codes Commission, foregoing a process that could have substantially changed the commission’s recommendations. Every three years, the city updates its own construction regulations as the International Code Council revises national codes. Columbia’s Read More …
By: admin
P&Z takes issue with rezoning for downtown apartment building
The Columbia Planning and Zoning Commission voted against a proposal to rezone land at the corner of College Avenue and Walnut Street so a development company could build a four-story, 100-unit apartment building on the downtown site. After opponents cited concerns with traffic congestion, lack of parking and lax zoning restrictions, the commission Thursday night Read More …
By: admin
Decision on St. Louis stormwater fee appeal looms large for Mo. cities
As Columbia continues to wade through stormwater issues, the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District today appealed a judge’s ruling from this summer that has big implications for Missouri municipalities working to comply with clean water regulations. At issue is whether fees charged by stormwater utilities are actually charges for services that a person could refuse, Read More …
By: admin
Mid-Mo. misses millions in federal money
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid last night dropped the effort to pass the $1.2 trillion appropriations bill funding the federal government through Sept. 30 after some Republican senators who said they would support it changed their minds. In the process, Missouri lost out on more than $100 million worth of earmarks that had been attached Read More …
By: admin
Google delays fiber network announcement
Earlier this year, Columbia was abuzz with excitement over Google’s announcement that it would select a city where it would build an experimental, ultra high-speed broadband network. Columbia, along with 1,100 other cities, submitted an application to the search engine behemoth arguing that it was the best candidate for the network. Google, which asked for Read More …
By: admin
SBD not sure about Charrette
After hearing a report on the Charrette, the Special Business District Board declined to take a position on the conceptual plan for the future development of downtown. Urban planning firm H3 Studios, with feedback from the Downtown Leadership Council, created the Charrette to serve as a guide for revitalizing the “gateways” into downtown as well Read More …
By: admin
Danish wind turbine supplier to open Moberly factory
Mid-Missouri got some good news today when the state’s Department of Economic Development announced that a Denmark-based supplier to the wind-turbine industry plans to open a manufacturing plant in Moberly. Vest-Fiber, which makes fiberglass products and primarily caters to wind turbine producers, announced it plans to invest $2 million to build a Moberly factory that Read More …
By: admin
FDIC state data illustrate stagnant recovery
State-specific economic data released by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation yesterday paints a n0ne-too-rosy picture for Missouri. But we should be used to that by now. All in all though, things aren’t getting much worse. They’re not really getting better, though either. The most recent employment, housing and banking data is through the third quarter Read More …
By: admin
Council briefed on IBM storm water variance
At the City Council’s work session last night, the city staff added an additional report to the end of the agenda. The report was a “response to the Nov. 26, 2010 Columbia Business Times article regarding the IBM site along Lemone Industrial Boulevard.” If you didn’t read it, the article pointed out that the IBM Read More …
By: admin
Richland annexation prompted valuable dialogue throughout process
Tony Black has been showing up at city hall periodically for about two years. As the president of the Lake of the Woods Neighborhood Association when developer David Atkins put forward his proposal to annex 270 acres into the city along Richland Road, he’s been the face of the resistance through the long, strange process. Read More …
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