City says requested evidence in Shelby Road court case will be preserved

Representatives for the city of Poplar Bluff will appear Dec. 9 in a Butler County court for a case review on motions that have been filed to halt the purchase of property on Shelby Road.

City attorney Mark Richardson appeared Thursday before Presiding Circuit Judge Michael Pritchett for a motion hearing related to the preservation of evidence. He told the court the items in question are routinely preserved by the city and the city does not object to the request.

Poplar Bluff attorney Robert Smith has asked the court to stop the city from purchasing 58 acres of property on Shelby Road for a new police department, with any unneeded acreage to be re-sold.

The city has not completed the purchase of this property and is not expected to close on the land until at least February, after financing has been secured, city officials have said. The purchase price is expected to be just over $1 million, which officials have said is valued at almost $4.5 million. Owner First Missouri State Bank is expected to donate the remaining value of the property to the city.

As part of Smith’s filings, he has also asked the court to preserve evidence in the form of a recording of the Nov. 4 city council meeting. The council voted 5-2 at that time to allow the mayor to execute documents related to the purchase of the land “for use as a new police station and other purposes, or re-sale of the real estate.”

Richardson said in court Thursday “the requested records are now and have always been preserved by the City according to statutory requirements and therefore has no objection to a proposed order for the continued preservation,” according to court documents.

Pritchett ordered both parties to submit proposed orders to the court.

Smith’s initial motion to halt the purchase says the city has no legal standing to purchase property for the purpose of re-sale.

“… the purchase of land to re-sale is not a statutory allowable purpose and any act such to do so would be ultra vires,” Smith’s motion reads. “That to allow the City to purchase the real property would cause the citizens irreparable harm; it would cause the city to incur an illegal debt … for which there is no adequate remedy at law.”

City officials have not responded to requests for comments on the case.