果酱视频

The plan appears to have assuaged the concerns of many of the Howard Bend Levee District鈥檚 critics who were hit with unexpectedly high bills last year because the district said it needed to offset revenue that had been withheld during a dispute with Hollywood Casino.

If built, the new pump station could finally open the floodgates to major development in the Howard Bend area of the Missouri River flood plain, where the levee plus the Page Avenue (Highway 364) and Highway 141 extensions were supposed to have catalyzed a buildout years ago.

鈥淚t鈥檚 always amazed me the lack of demand鈥� in the Howard Bend area, commercial real estate developer Mark Branstetter told the Howard Bend Levee District board at its annual property owners meeting Tuesday. 鈥淚t鈥檚 solely because of a lack of a pump station.鈥�

The roughly $8.5 million pumping station would have about 40% of the capacity of the pumps the district originally planned to build, but officials say it would be enough to allow eager developers to start building in the low-lying ground along the Missouri River, raising the value of land and, thus, the levee district鈥檚 tax revenue.

鈥淭his is the time,鈥� Howard Bend Levee District Chairman Ed Ortmann told a crowd at the Maryland Heights Community Center gathered Tuesday for the district鈥檚 annual property owners meeting. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 afford to waste an opportunity as so many others have slipped through our fingers. The stormwater pumps make the difference.鈥�

Maryland Heights Economic Development Manager Jim Carver, who also sits on the levee district鈥檚 board, echoed that sentiment.

鈥淚n the past 12 months, we鈥檝e had extreme interest throughout the (Highway) 141 corridor, as well as other sites throughout Howard Bend,鈥� Carver said.

The district鈥檚 loudest critics have begun to quiet, including the city of Maryland Heights. Unlike most taxing districts, levee districts can tax other governments for land within their boundaries. Maryland Heights sued the district last year and withheld tax payments after a failed attempt to gain control of the board. The city contended it didn鈥檛 understand how the levee district was dividing costs among its taxpayers, but Carver said Tuesday the city had dropped its lawsuits after the district alleviated its concerns about how taxes were calculated.

Howard Bend assessed Maryland Heights taxpayers almost $200,000 last year. Carver called the levee district鈥檚 most recent assessment fair and said the pump station plan is a good one.

鈥淭his is being wholly transparent to all landowners,鈥� he said.

鈥楥ost-effective step forward鈥�

Another frequent levee district critic, Albert Stix Jr., whose family owns land surrounding the Creve Coeur Airport, said the district鈥檚 financial projections seem accurate.

鈥淚 feel personally that this is probably a very reasonable, cost-effective step forward, and we strongly support this phased-approach so that responsible development can start to take place in the Howard Bend Levee District,鈥� he said.

The district had contended with financial pressures as it dealt with disputed tax payments from some of its largest taxpayers, including Hollywood Casino, Maryland Heights and the 果酱视频 Metropolitan Sewer District. Ratings agency Fitch downgraded its debt twice in a year, dropping it to junk status in February. MSD filed suit over its tax payments, litigation that is still pending but that Ortmann said he鈥檚 hopeful the district can resolve this year.

To afford the pump station, the district will make interest-only payments for the first five years, and district attorney David Human of Husch Blackwell said the district鈥檚 board is 鈥渧ery encouraged with the interest rates we鈥檝e been seeing.鈥� Meanwhile, disputed tax payments from Maryland Heights have been released, and a new development has already started in the district, which should generate additional revenue.

After landowners saw huge increases in their bills last year, Ortmann said the levee district doesn鈥檛 anticipate having to raise levee assessments again this year to afford the project.

Among those who saw big increases last year was 果酱视频 County, which helped make up for the casino鈥檚 withheld payments. The 2019 levee district assessment change began taxing 鈥渓ands owned by 果酱视频 County, Missouri (including but not limited to Creve Coeur Lake Memorial Park) which previously had not been assessed鈥� according to court documents. That nearly doubled, to $514,000 last year, how much county taxpayers paid into the district annually.

鈥楶ay our share鈥�

果酱视频 County Parks Director Tom Ott, who sits on the levee district鈥檚 board, said the pump station will help prevent future flooding at Creve Coeur Lake Park and the county will 鈥減ay our share鈥� of the cost to build it.

鈥淲e go through a tremendous amount of cleanup efforts after a flood,鈥� Ott said.

The casino, though, is still not ready to drop its lawsuit with the district. It contends the district violated a decades-old agreement the casino inked to help finance the levee鈥檚 initial construction, and it doesn鈥檛 even benefit from the levee because the casino is built above flood stage.

鈥淭he board is now trying to rally some of you to support a pump station, but what they are not telling you is that they have done this several times before and collected money for this several times before,鈥� said Hollywood Casino General Manager Michael Jerlecki. 鈥淭he taxpayers of 果酱视频 County, the customers and billpayers of MSD and Missouri American Water, the property owners of the district just keep getting charged more and more by the same individuals representing this board today and who have been at this for over 20 years.鈥�