Today's Feature
Land Available for
Fire Substation.
Two separate offers of donated
land for the construction site of a south fire
substation has reignited the discussion of
whether such a facility is needed at this time.
Both properties are of suitable
size, but estimates of site development vary
substantially.
One site located at the
northwest corner of River Street and George
Phelps Boulevard would need to have sewer
extended to the location. This and the proximity
to the new softball fields appears to make the
site less attractive that the other site located
just north of the Best Western Motel on Hazel
Avenue.
The River Street location would
cost an estimated $81,040 to develop. The Hazel
Street site would cost an estimated $59,290 to
develop.
A free standing 3,600 square
foot structure and approximately 7,500 square
foot of concrete for the structure and parking is
estimated to cost $239,880.
The estimates were presented to
the Public Safety Committee at its last meeting.
The Council did not allocate
any funding in this year’s budget for a
substation.
Letter to the Editor
Opinions expressed reflect
those of the writer
and not necessarily those of the Mornin' Mail.
Dear Mornin Mail,
I found the article quite
interesting about survey of salaries. This was
always done when I was employed by the City of
Carthage Police department. I was with the
department for 17 years, before retiring.
The city will do the survey to
compare the wages, but there is no mention of he
size of the departments, the calls for duty, the
rating for the fire district and other
comparables, such as the service provided by the
employees of these departments.
I imagine that most residents
don’t know that a large percentage of the
employees of the departments have to work two
jobs to support their families as I had to. I
qualified for certain welfare benefits and
reduced school lunches for my children.
With most jobs there is not the
stress that is associated as with a police
officer and fire fighter. This is proven by the
shorter years worked with most current retirement
plans now.
I still have the images
implanted in my mind of the abused children, dead
bodies, and drowning children that will be there
the rest of my life. How can you say a wage can
be based on comparisons.
I have visited some of the so
called comparable cities, and I never did find a
comparable police or fire department as to the
City of Carthage. I visited several during my
tenure as a police officer, while I was on
vacation in different states as have other police
officers and fire fighters. There were none
comparable.
The next time you observe a
police officer with a car stopped or a fire
fighter going to a fire, think about the danger
associated and wonder how much rest they may or
may not have had , working two jobs, because of
the comparable wages, the city thought were
adequate, like the large .4 % raise.
If you want Carthage to be a
step above the other cities, then pay the
Carthage Police and Fire Departments the money
they deserve. They are the BEST.
Thank you,
Mike Wells
More of 2001
Calendar and Welcome Vicki!
by Robin Putnam, artCentral
We are very excited about
having our 2001 calendar all booked but
what’s even more exciting is that we already
have four shows booked for 2002 !!!! That is just
too cool !!!
Last week we were going over
the shows for 2001 and didn’t get very far
so here’s a few more names and dates.
April 20 - May 26 will be a
return group called Spring River Artists. This
group of women had their first show here with us
at the Hyde House in May of 1999.
They have added another local
gal so there are now eight of them !! These
talented women are Kit Tuck, Lamar, Trisha
Courtney, Margaret Roach-Wheeler, Kim Kissel,
Nancy Kissel Clark, and Randy Wright all from
Joplin, Linda Simpson and Helen Kunze, Carthage.
The mediums included in this
group exhibit include clay, stone, bronze and
metal sculpture, Terragami, hand woven textiles,
sterling silver jewelry, oil paintings and
colored pencil paintings. This should be an
awesome exhibit as all the works have not been
shown here before !
June 8 - July 14 is our annual
Membership Show. We generally have 30 members
participating in this exhibit and the variety of
mediums is truly mind boggling !!
July 28 - August 31 we are
pleased to have Joplin artist, Paula Giltner with
us for her first time !! She will exhibit her
watercolor paintings and ink drawings. Paula is a
very talented gal and has worked in watercolor
for a long, long time !!
Sept. 7 - Oct. 12 is Karolee
Blanchard, Joplin. Karolee is an oil painter and
focuses on still lifes and portraiture. She
considers her self a realist.
The rest of the calendar will
come next week !!
Before closing we want to thank
members Annette and Brent Jones for all of their
help !! We would also like to welcome Vicki
Downing. She is going to be here keeping the
place going on a daily basis !! We soooo much
appreciate these folks for being here for the
organization !!
Vicki lives in Sarcoxie and
wants to be a driving force in this organization
!! She will be starting some new kids programs
and get a membership drive underway, just for
starters !! Please join us in supporting her and
welcoming her to our humble little gallery !!!
For the months of November,
December and January the Board has decided we
will not be open on Saturdays.
More..........next week.
358-4404. 1110 E 13th &
www.ozarkartistscolony .com Our hours are Tues. -
Fri. 9am - 3pm.
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