Christopher Lanham

So, while we have been sitting here waiting for the inevitable annexation of the Missouri Research Park by Weldon Spring a funny thing happened, the city dropped its bid. It would appear that the city overestimated its ability to provide the necessary services to the tenants. So faced with extensive litigation from the existing tenants within the MRP, especially Nike, Weldon Spring withdrew its petition to the court to allow the proposed annexation to go forward.

However I don't think this issue is over. In the eyes of the local municipalities the MRP is a very tempting target: a huge tax base with minimal need for services (as compared with residential neighborhoods). O'Fallon Missouri already has made one (aborted) attempt to annex the business park and one gets the sense that Weldon Spring has not fully closed the door on their attempt to move the line on the map to encompass the MRP. City officials admitted that they had underestimated the amount of planning necessary to successfully close the annexation and appease the existing tenants. The next time they won't make the same mistake.

A very happy Monday to everyone. Here it is very cold with a new winter storm expected any minute now. Sorry I haven't posted in almost a week but I developed a really nasty chest cold on election day which laid me out for three days and then it lessened to a simple sinus cold for the next three days, which was actually an improvement. So whatever the bug is that's floating around, I highly recommend avoiding it!

So, on to Weldon Spring matters. Last Tuesday's vote regarding the proposed annexation of the Missouri Research Park passed with 79% of voters approving the measure. Next, the city must go in front of a judge and request a declaratory judgement which would allow the process to be completed. Now this is not a mere formality. The city must prove to the judge that they have something substantial to offer the tenants of the MRP such as increased services, new services, etc. Otherwise the judge will reject the annexation bid as being nothing more than an attempt to expand the tax base of Weldon Spring at the expense of the existing tenants of the MRP.

However there are two sides to every story. There are a number of businesses in the MRP who are very unhappy at the proposal. Nike in particular has been very vocal with its displeasure, accusing Weldon Spring with being less than forthcoming with its efforts to annex the MRP, saying that the city did not inform them the issue was being put to a vote this past election day. In fact Nike has said that the first time they heard of the vote was when a local journalist contacted them four days before the election for a reaction to the upcoming referendum. Nike has gone on record saying that they will oppose the annexation with every means they have available to them.

My guess is the most likely scenario is that the annexation will go through, but following that there will be a number of high profile moves out of the MRP as those companies look for new office space in an area with a lower tax burden.

Greetings from the winter wonderland that is Weldon Spring, MO! Hope that all of you who got to, or were forced to, stay home from work or school today are enjoying yourself.

On February 5th (this coming Tuesday) Weldon Spring voters will have the opportunity to voice their opinion on the city's proposed annexation of the Missouri Research Park (MRP). Several businesses within the Research Park are upset about the proposed merger as it will increase the cost of their operations there due to a 5% city franchise fee on utilities. The proposal's opponents claim that this fee will reduce the companies ability to fund their research and development efforts, which is the primary reason they are located within the Missouri Research Park. Weldon Springs counters that the revenue from the 5% fee is necessary for the city to provide the additional services the MRP would receive, such as snow removal and street repair.

It should be noted that this vote is only part of the process. A declaratory judgement still must be made by the courts regarding the annexation. If the courts approval the Weldon Spring's proposal, then a simple majority of city voters will decide whether the proposed annexation will go through or not.

(Some information used in this post was taken from the 1/30/08 issue of the St. Peters Journal)