Did Ya Know... Carthage Train Crew will have a fish fry Saturday, October 4th at 6:30 p.m. at the Train Barn on West Mound street road. For information, call Buddy Garner at 358-7898.

Did Ya Know... Carthage Area United Way First Report Luncheon will be held today, 12 noon at Bamboo Garden.

Did Ya Know... Maple Leaf Pro-Am Golf Tournament will be on October 4th and 5th at the Municipal Park Golf Course.

Did Ya Know... A training program for childcare providers will be on Sat., Oct. 4 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Freeman Hospital West in Joplin. For information, contact University Outreach and Extension at 417-358-2158.

Q: How many software engineers does it take to screw in a light bulb?

A: None. It’s a hardware problem.

"Doc, you’re charging me fifty dollars and all you did was paint my throat."

"What did you expect for fifty dollars - wallpaper?"

"Waiter, look at the chicken you just served me. One leg is shorter than the other."

"Are you planning to eat it, sir, or dance with it?"

She Took A Shot At Him.

Today shortly after noon a man appeared at the home of a Mr. Shelton on Boisd’ Arc street and asked for a drink of water. There was no one at home but Miss Shelton and she complied with his request. After drinking he inquired about a vacant house next door, asking who had the renting of it. Miss Shelton gave him what information she possessed and he started over to look at the house. He entered the building and went into the basement. He then appeared at a window and after attracting her attention began to undress. Miss Shelton ran into the house and procured a revolver and the fellow made a break to run. She appeared a moment later and fired four shots after his fleeting figure. Bullets spatted around him at a lively rate but he was not hit as far as known. The last seen of him he was running south on River street with a dog belonging to a neighbor swinging to his coattail.

FP Blazes Forward.

The issue of fire protection fees for annexed properties was raised at the most recent City Council meeting and assigned to the Budget Committee for research into possible solutions.

Council member Jackie Boyer has expressed concerns that general City revenues which help offset the cost of fire protection are lost when property is annexed by the City. According to Boyer this is a problem which needs to be addressed now, since more and more properties are being annexed by the City.

Members of the Carthage Rural Fire District pay a thirty-one cent levy to the City for fire protection. City properties serviced by CW&EP are charged a 6% City revenue fee based on their utility bill. The revenue is then transferred to the City General Fund. Fire protection services are budgeted from the City General Fund. When a property is annexed and is served by Empire Electric, the City no longer receives the fire protection levy and cannot collect the City revenue through the utility bill.

"This is a crack some people have been falling through," said Budget Committee Chair Bill Johnson.

"The Budget Committee has been charged with equitably coming up with a way of charging those people or revamping the system entirely. One suggestion has been to take it off the utilities and put it on the tax rolls," Johnson said.

Johnson went on to say that Precious Moments has not had to pay a single cent of fire protection, but is a major reason for the planned south fire station. One of the reasons the new station is needed in order to serve Precious Moments in the required response time according to Johnson.

"It’s not just Precious Moments. The town’s moving south, and we’ll need one out there, but they’re the farthest point right now," said Johnson.

Johnson said the Budget Committee is checking with the Missouri Municipal League to see what other cities are doing about similar situations. The Committee will begin meeting once the necessary information is gathered.

FP and Carmar

Precious Moments and Carmar are the most often cited examples of annexed properties which pay neither the Carthage Rural Fire District levy nor the City revenue tax which is included in the CW&EP basic rate. According to Chief Financial Officer Mark Gier, Carmar’s position is that they resolved the issue of the fire protection fee during their annexation talks with the City in 1993 and 1994.

According to an April 1994 memorandum from then Mayor Herbert Casteel to the City Council, "...Carmar’s attorney had objected to annexation because he was afraid the Fire Protection Charge on the CW&EP bills would be assessed against Carmar’s Empire Electric District bill costing them approximately $135,000 per year."

In response to this concern and to aid economic development, Casteel, CW&EP, the Board of Public Works and the City Council negotiated a restructuring of CW&EP rates which eliminated the FP tax and included a 6% City revenue in CW&EP’s basic rates.

Casteel believed this change and the City’s agreement that Carmar would retain their Empire Electric service cleared the way for annexation. The City agreed that, if annexed, Carmar would remain with Empire Electric because, under pricing guidelines set by Missouri statute, CW&EP could not afford to purchase the right from Empire to provide service.

Prior to Carmar’s annexation, CW&EP and Empire Electric entered into an Electric Service Territorial Agreement concerning Carmar land and adjoining property. This agreement also needed approval from the Missouri Public Service Commission and the City Council.

In an April 1994 five-page memo to the City Council, Casteel urged the City Council to oppose the Territorial Agreement as written. Among the points he raised were two that he felt placed limits on the City.

"In any event, there is no reason for the territorial agreement to cover any area that is not being annexed....The only result would be to tie the hands of future City Councils," the memo stated.

"As to the agreement itself, give careful attention to all its terms, and especially to Paragraph 6. This paragraph is designed to limit our taxing power in case the territory is annexed," Casteel’s memo continued.

"Paragraphs 6 and 7 need to be amended, and most important of all, the territorial agreement should cover only land that is being annexed. If Carmar agrees to annex their land, then I would favor a territorial agreement giving Empire District all the land being annexed."

Jim Bracht, then President of the Board of Public Works, responded to Casteel in a memo to the City Council.

"Basically, all property covered under the territorial agreement, including property not now owned by Carmar, is already serviced by Empire....Carmar representatives, not Empire representatives, requested that this property be included in the agreement. We seriously discussed Carmar’s request and have agreed to it," Bracht’s memo stated. "We believe we are not giving up anything of future value to us.....

"The territorial agreement does tie the hands of future City Councils. It is designed to do so to protect both CW&EP and Empire; it is a contract," Bracht continued.

"In paragraph six of the agreement, the taxing authority of the city is limited if the Carmar property is annexed. It is only limited, however, in that a tax cannot be applied that is based upon the monetary value of electric service provided by Empire to Carmar....Carmar’s attorney’s wanted protection from the Fire Protection Tax, both now and if one were implemented in the future....Any tax or fee based upon something other than electric sales is not addressed in this agreement," Bracht’s memo explained. "A future council-approved inventory, merchant, sales tax, etc., is not prohibited - only a tax tied to the electricity Carmar purchases from Empire is prohibited."

The territorial agreement passed a City Council vote on July 12, 1994, despite objections by former Mayor Casteel and Council member Kellermeyer. It is cited in the annexation agreement between the City and Carmar as a condition to be met for annexation to occur. "The parties agree that the performance of the Territorial Agreement is a material condition precedent to the Company entering into this Agreement and voluntary annexation under the Annexation Plan," states the Agreement for Voluntary Annexation entered into on August 9, 1994.

I don't know diddley myself. Apparently this is a requirement for those of us who express opinions in the local papers. It is good ta see that the local evenin' paper is opting to grace the community with editorials of local interest on occassion however.

First off, the request that the Chamber made of the Budget/Ways and Means Committee the other night had nothin' to do with the actions of the Council for this fiscal year. That's when all the flap about the Tax Commission occurred. The request was for funds spent durin' last year. The Chamber was under the impression that some of last year's Lodgin' Tax funds weren't spent and approached the Committee to see if those funds could be used to offset tourism expenses for last year.

I didn't see any hats in the meetin' that night, so I don't think anyone came with there "hats in hand."

'Course diddley is a relative term. Maybe I just don't understand all I know about it.

This is some fact, but mostly, Just Jake Talkin'.

Click and Clack Talk Cars.

Dear Tom and Ray: I own a 1993 Subaru Legacy Wagon. It’s the 25th Silver Anniversary L Plus Sports Wagon Edition. That means I have a sports suspension, fancy wheels, turbo, leather steering wheel and LEAKING electric sunroof! When it rains, the sunroof leaks on my head, just like the old B. J. Thomas song. No one except the dealer will even look at this for me. The dealer thinks the silicone rubber seal is in need of replacement. Even though silicone cost $4 a tube, the cost estimate is for eight hours of work at $60 per hour! They say it’s so expensive because they have to remove the headliner, sunroof and other items. I can’t believe this thing is leaking after only four years, and can’t believe how much it costs to fix. Do I have any alternatives? Should I attempt this on my own? Or should I just do it and get on with my life? - Ted.

Ray: You should absolutely, definitely NOT attempt this repair yourself. You could more easily fix the leak in the Mir space station. The dealer is right about what’s involved with this job. This is a complete pain in the butt.

Tom: I think you’re right to be disappointed that the sunroof is leaking after only four years. And if it were me, I’d complain to Lord Subaru and see if they’ll contribute to the repair (Sabaru’s Customer Service Number is 1-800-SUBARU3).