TOWN & BUSINESS INDEX PAGE
HOME PAGE

HISTORY IN THE MAKING --
FOUR OF SIX COMMUNITIES SAY 'YES'
IN CONSOLIDATION VOTE

By Roger Forsythe
Daily Journal Staff Writer

Call it history in the making, call it a vision realized, call it a double victory. But whatever you call it, the hotly-contested consolidation of the Mineral Area complex of communities has permanently removed four city boundaries.

When all the ballots were counted late Tuesday night, the planned consolidation was approved by four of the six municipalities. Flat River, Elvins, Esther and Rivermines approved the measure and now will be joined into one city. Only Leadington and Desloge voted against the merger.

Among the cities to approve consolidation, Flat River reached the highest percentage of favorable ballots, with 83 percent -- or 1,341 ballots -- cast in support of the measure. Another 272 residents (17 percent) voted against consolidation.

In Flat River Ward 1 and 2, consolidation won by a landslide margin of nearly seven-to-one. Flat River Ward 3 approved the measure by a margin topping out at three-to-one.

Elvins and Rivermines also had a high percentage of residents to vote in favor of the planned merger. In Elvins, 354 residents (74 percent) approved the measure, while 125 voters (26 percent) opted to maintain the current city boundaries.

Rivermines residents turned out with 109 ballots (64 percent) cast in favor of consolidation. The remaining 61 ballots (36 percent) disapproved of the controversial measure.

The race in Esther was somewhat closer. Of the 391 ballots cast at city hall, 216 (55 percent) favored consolidation - while the remaining 175 (45 percent) opposed merging city services and the boundary.

Leadington and Desloge will continue to operate as separate entities. Leadington residents defeated the measure by a vote of 61 ballots (73 percent) against consolidation and 23 ballots (27 percent) in favor of the issue.

The ratio was similar in Desloge, where 1,233 registered voters (65 percent) opposed consolidation and 666 residents (35 percent) supported the planned merger. Nearly a two-to-one margin defeated the issue in all three city wards.

Kenny Moore, chairperson of the Desloge Citizens Opposed to Consolidation Committee, indicated this morning that the group looked upon Tuesday's city-wide response as "a victory for the citizens of Desloge."

He explained: "The people of Desloge spoke their desire to not consolidate, and for the four that did go together, we hope them the best of luck. This is a democracy and you have that choice. At this time, the people decided that this is not good for the citizens of Desloge."

After nearly a year of debate, Tuesday's action created the foundation for a united city with a total population of 7,744 residents. With this increase in population, over $38,000 in state and federal grants will be made available to help improve the new city's streets and roads.

The response from officials at the Mineral Area Consolidation Committee's victory party Tuesday night was one of elation. This momentum, it was indicated, will continue to propel the measure forward.

"We are very ecstatic with this major victory, and we feel like we have made history tonight," said John Clark, consolidation committee chairperson.

"To my knowledge, this has never been done in Missouri -- or anywhere else as far as I know -- where more than two communities have come together. We see nothing but progress and good days to come."

Now that the all-important first step has been taken, Clark said that a meeting with the elected officials representing each of the four communities will be scheduled in the next two weeks.

"What we proposed to do is to get in contact with Gary Markenson (executive director with the Missouri Municipal League) and initiate the first meeting for the city governments from all the towns involved.

"We think that it would be better for (that first contact) to come from us, and set it up to where they can meet on neutral ground to begin with. And we'll start there from square one."

After this first meeting with all the city officials, each city will then appoint three representatives to serve on the charter commission.

This commission will then outline the new city's structure and present it for the approval of the voters. If this measure is defeated, a second commission will be formed and a second recommendation will be voted on.

Should this second measure also fail, the plan to receive the greatest number of votes will be considered as having passed. The whole transition period is expected to be completed by January 1994.

Recommendations from the charter commission will include the type of government to be established, the city's name, the tax rate to be set, city ward boundaries, and other recommendations dealing with the merging of the now-separate fire, police and street departments and libraries.

Unlike the consolidation efforts to have been attempted in the past -- virtually since the beginning of lead mining industry in the area -- the Mineral Area Consolidation Committee promoted the passage last spring of Senate Bill #571.

It was this measure that allowed the adjoining, but not contiguous, municipalities to merge in one election. It also detailed the charter commission process to be followed during the lengthy transition period and stipulated that Flat River -- because of its location and size -- was the only city that could kill the measure completely.

In past "Unicity" movements, every city had to approve the measure in order for any consolidation to take place.

"We truly want to thank everyone who participated -- all our supporters in all six towns, all the people who helped with the committee from the beginning, and all those with the foresight to look forward to the possibility that we can help move in the (right) direction," Clark concluded.

Published by THE DAILY JOURNAL, Flat River, St. Francois Co. MO, Wed. Nov. 4, 1992, pages 1 and 3.

TOWN & BUSINESS INDEX PAGE
HOME PAGE