What's Happened

City Manager Bill Watkins selected Charles Witt as the new chief of the Columbia Fire Department. Witt is a 25-year veteran of the department and competed against three other candidates from outside the city. He replaces retiring Fire Chief William Markgraf on March 6.
The University of Missouri System Presidential Search Committee on Wednesday named a 20-member advisory committee to assist them in determining the qualifications desired in the system’s 23rd president. The advisory committee also will assist in the review of presidential candidates. One of seven public forums will be held March 14 at the Reynolds Alumni Center in Columbia.
Organizers of the True/False Film Festival expected more than 7,000 people to attend the screenings and events running from Thursday through Sunday, and ticket sales are higher than in previous years. More than 40 feature-length films are being shown.
US Census Bureau figures released Feb. 24 showed Columbia grew by more than 20,000 people during the past decade, from 84,531 to 108,500. Boone County reached a population of 162,642 in 2010, up from 135,454 in 2000. The population rise might result in an additional house seat in the Missouri Legislature, as Boone County now has enough people for four entire House districts.
The City Council at its Feb. 21 meeting approved Tax Increment Financing to help redevelop the Regency Hotel. During the 23-year lifespan of the TIF, the assistance would provide up to $3.2 million in current dollars to developer Dave Parmley by diverting the increased real property taxes generated by the property’s appreciated value. Parmley plans to build a $17.5 million, 112-room hotel that would employ 62 people, and he has submitted an application to InterContinental Hotels to build a Hotel Indigo franchise. The city also unveiled plans to purchase adjacent property from Parmley to build a 300-space, $7 million parking garage. Parmley would lease 100 of those spaces.
Columbia Water and Light said Feb. 21 it would build one of three planned 161,000-volt transmission lines outside of the city limits. The utility’s plan to build a new substation and three transmission line connections to the city’s grid, unveiled last fall, elicited hundreds of complaints from potentially affected property owners in affluent south Columbia. Residents are concerned about potential health effects as well as the possible effect on their property values should the lines be built nearby.
The Columbia Chamber of Commerce board of directors endorsed 5th Ward City Council Candidate Glen Ehrhardt over his opponent Helen Anthony. The Chamber chose not to endorse one of the four 1st Ward candidates — Fred Schmidt, Mitch Richards, Pam Forbes and Darrell Foster — in the city’s April 5 election.
The City Council began discussing how Columbia should begin to implement a new rule from the Environmental Protection Agency mandating a 40 percent reduction in stormwater runoff into Hinkson Creek. At a special work session Feb. 16, Public Works Director John Glasscock presented some options the city could pursue to reduce runoff, including buying adjacent property and converting it into a floodplain, the Columbia Daily Tribune reported.
The Columbia City Council authorized a substantial revamp of its project bidding and purchasing process at its Feb. 21 meeting. The change in city ordinance formalizes a requirement for interested party meetings before all public improvement projects. It also changes which projects can go through an “administrative” bidding process that does not require public hearings before the Council. The cost threshold for Water and Light projects that can be bid without public hearings was lowered, and the cost threshold for some Public Works projects was raised. It also authorizes, among other things, city contributions toward the cost of public improvements to be constructed by developers.
Boone County received $713,000 of federal money through the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to help reduce quick rises in the flow of water in Hinkson Creek, The Columbia Daily Tribune reported. The money will be used to install stormwater control devices, such as rain barrels and pervious pavement, on buildings and property in the Hinkson Creek watershed.
The US Department of Energy awarded 3M a $4.4 million grant through its SunShot Initiative to help it expand production of its Ultra Barrier Solar Film, to be built at its Columbia plant, Finance & Commerce reported.
Home prices inched up in Columbia last year and appreciated 1.19 percent in 2010, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Home Price Index released Feb. 24. The rise ranks Columbia 32nd in the nation in terms of price appreciation among the metro areas the FHFA tracks. The broad index compiled using mortgage servicing and securitization data from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac includes refinancings as part of the measure, so it is not an indicator of the actual selling price of homes. Data tracked by the Columbia Board of Realtors, though, shows the average home selling price rose by 2.1 percent in 2010, and the median price rose .2 percent, though the number of homes sold last year fell by 115 to 1,591.
Columbia College saw the largest percentage increase in endowments among Missouri colleges, the St. Louis Business Journal reported. The private college’s endowment rose 30.8 percent in 2010, or $13.8 million. Last year, the college contributed about $10.1 million of its own funds, received about $990,000 in gifts and earned about $3 million. Although Columbia College’s endowment is smaller than many larger institutions, it has been growing quickly. In 1999, it was worth about $5 million; at the end of January, it was worth more than $71 million.
The city of Columbia opened the 10-level, Fifth and Walnut parking garage March 1. The garage includes about 1,300 square feet of office space and 700 parking spaces, though most will be for city employees.
The state of Missouri received a AAA credit rating from each of the big three rating agencies, the Kansas City Star reported. Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch all gave the state their highest rating, which means they see little chance of the state defaulting on its bonds and that it can borrow at some of the lowest rates. Just seven other states have the highest rating along with Missouri: Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Maryland, North Carolina, Utah and Virginia.
Foreclosed home sales in Missouri totaled 11,485 in 2010 and accounted for 17 percent of all home sales last year, according to RealtyTrac. That is a 34 percent decrease from 2009, though the foreclosed homes sold at an average discount of 25 percent compared to non-foreclosed homes.
The Missouri Chamber of Commerce came out in support of legislation making the state a so-called “right-to-work” state, which would keep unionized workplaces from requiring new workers to join the union or pay dues as a condition of employment, Missouri Watchdog reported. Senate President Pro Tem Rob Mayer plans to bring the legislation up for debate in the state legislature, according to the Associated Press. Missouri’s large metro areas are heavily unionized, and unlike most states, Missouri’s union membership actually rose in 2010.