A measure concerning the position of the Downtown Poplar Bluff director was tabled Monday by city council members following a sometimes emotional discussion regarding oversight of the role.
City council members were expected to vote Monday on a memorandum of understanding which would have transferred the position to the Greater Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce. The city would continue to fund $50,000 of the salary for the position, which is paid for from the city’s tourism tax.
The item is expected to be brought back before the council Nov. 21.
Chamber President Steve Halter said if approval is not given by the council at that time, the Chamber will retract its willingness to help with the downtown development position.
Questions had surfaced regarding changes that are proposed to the bylaws for the Downtown Poplar Bluff board, and whether all board members fully supported those changes, according to council members.
“The board functions based on those bylaws. We’re signing an MOU against those (current) bylaws,” said council member Jerrica Fox said, adding the current bylaws indicated the board chair would oversee the director position, when the council understood it would be the Chamber director.
A section in the bylaws would address the supervisor, said Sue Crites Szostack, a DPB board member who has recently volunteered to take over organizing the new draft of the bylaws.
Information on the new bylaws was released to board members Friday, said council member Chris Taylor.
“I’m not saying this is a bad idea. I’m totally for it, but there’s a process,” Taylor said. “Those bylaws weren’t even given to the board until Friday. ... They should have time to look at those.”
Halter said the board could take time with the bylaws, but that the MOU would impact how they were written.
“The thing is, we’re kind of at a standstill,” Halter said, telling the council the delay in voting on the matter keeps both the Chamber and Downtown Poplar Bluff Director Morgan McIntosh in limbo.
Council member Lisa Parson asked if the MOU was needed to move forward with the new bylaws. Szostack said she could move forward with work on the bylaws, adding she didn’t get them until last week.
Mayor Steve Davis asked McIntosh how she felt about the possible move to the Chamber.
McIntosh said she feels good about the change, but that she’s concerned the council’s delay means they don’t trust her to do both her role as Downtown director and the new responsibilities she will take on at the chamber with Jeannette Townsend, the former director of marketing and membership, leaving.
“This isn’t a personal attack against Steve or Morgan,” Fox said.
The city manager, Chamber executive and many other people support the change, Halter said, adding that 49 Downtown business owners and community leaders had signed letters in support of the matter.
Parson asked if all of the people who supported the change were aware of the discontent on the DPB board.
Halter said the questions were raised by only two of the board members
For the sake of the DPB board having more time to review the matter, Davis said he felt it was important to delay the vote.
The council voted unanimously to table the matter until the Nov. 21 meeting.
In other business, the council:
• Approved a change to a Poplar Bluff Industrial Infrastructure Improvement Project, extending the contract deadline from September to December. This allows for delays at the Tru Manufacturing site related to wet fields and coordination between the construction at the plant and infrastructure work, city manager Matt Winters said.
• Approved an ordinance related to a project with the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission.
• Approved an amendment to the fiscal year 2022 budget for the purchase of equipment for the police and street departments. Costs changed for the TruNarc Solutions equipment, which will identify heroin and other narcotics, than originally planned, Winters said.
• Approved appointments to the electrical wiring and tree advisory boards.
• Approved a grant application to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources related to the development of a park near the police department on Shelby Road.
• Discussed the purchase of new phone equipment.