Springfield Business Journal_2020-08-03

Greene County LLC, has not agreed on a deal with the city, Kemper said. “We have had several meetings with the property owners and their attorney, but regrettably, we have been unable to come to an agreement on the value of these easements,” he said. The parties appear to be far apart in negotiations. The city has offered $19,000 for the easements, Kemper said, but the property owner is requesting $383,000. City documents cite Mark Bryant and Wanda Bryant as the property owners, who could not be reached for comment by press time. The couple own 177 acres off East Mary Road in Rogersville, just south- east of Springfield, according to Greene County assessor records. Christiaan Horton, the Bryants’ attor- ney, told Springfield Business Journal the couple has concerns about how the ease- ments will impact the farm’s surface and ground water used for cattle operations. “The sewer line will basically run through the heart of this family farm that’s been there for many years,” said Horton of Carnahan, Evans, Cantwell & Brown PC. “We don’t want any impact to our water source.” Horton said it’s uncertain if the city will settle with the property owners, and they’re preparing for condemnation. “If council authorizes the pursuit of condemnation,” Kemper said at the meet- ing, “we will continue to work with the property owner to avoid condemnation if at all possible.” Three people spoke in favor of the or- dinance – all representatives of a senior living facility planned near Highland Springs Country Club dubbed Spring- house Village South. The developer, Fos- ter Senior Living, also is constructing the $27 million Springhouse Village East off U.S. Highway 65 and Chestnut Express- way, according to past SBJ reporting. Zach Fischer, Foster Senior Living’s director of develop- ment, said the $36 mil- lion proposed project is designed with 100 beds for assisted liv- ing and memory care services, and 45 inde- pendent living homes. Eddie Tims, project architect, said obtain- ing the sewer connection is a major hur- dle for the project. “Nobody likes condemnation … but this seems to be holding up a lot of possible economic growth to Springfield, as well as for Rogersville,” said Tims, of Eddie Tims Architect PC. Rezoning requests Council also heard a request to rezone roughly 5 acres at 3146 S. Golden Ave. to an office district from general manufac- turing. OIP LLC, or Ozarks Investment Prop- erties, owns the land and is leasing the church building on the property to Gloria Deo Academy Inc., said Wendy Wright, development director at the private school. Gloria Deo Academy intends to open the private school in August at the Golden Avenue site, where The Catalyst Church also meets. The private school cannot operate on the property under the current zoning, according to city documents. The Golden Avenue site is also home to The Catalyst Church, which subleases the auditorium from Glo- ria Deo Academy, said Pastor Tim Wertz. Joy Davis, head of the school, said nearly 520 students so far are signed up to attend the private Christian school this fall, which follows a classi- cal education curriculum for K-12. The school also will continue to operate a campus at River Stone Fellowship in Nixa. Before entering a lease-to-purchase agreement for the Golden Avenue space, Davis said Gloria Deo students were meeting at three churches in the Spring- field area, which would be consolidated between the Nixa and southwest Spring- field sites. “This is giving us an opportunity to have our own place and not be at the mer- cy of other people,” she said. Council is expected to vote Aug. 10 on the rezoning request. Other action items:  Council approved three community improvement district requests for nearly $15.6 million in public improvements across 144 acres. The CIDs are planned at Glenstone Avenue and Kearney Street, along South West Bypass and at the site of The Ridge at Ward Branch development near The Library Center on South Campbell Av- enue. Property owners within the pro- posed CID boundaries will next vote on imposing a sales and use tax of up to 1% to fund the public improvements. Council also approved several mea- sures for public improvements in the Commercial Street area, including a bid of nearly $523,000 from Hunter Chase & Associates Inc. for alleyway and parking lot improvements along Jefferson Avenue at Commercial Street. Council also authorized the city to use $66,000 of the Commercial Street Tax Increment Financing Special Alloca- tion Fund for the improvements and ap- proved the acceptance of a donated piece of mosaic artwork from the Commercial Club of Springfield. The mosaic, valued at $15,000, will be used in sidewalk con- struction. $36M Planned project costs of Springhouse Village South Council: Alleyway, parking lot improvements in works on Commercial Street Continued from page 3 SPRINGFIELD BUSINESS JOURNAL · 7 AUG. 3-9, 2020 NEWS