CAMPS READY BATTLE AT OZARK CO-OP MEETING

POPLAR BLUFF - The battle lines have been drawn -- quite clearly, it would seem -- and the two sides are ready to do battle Saturday in the activity center of Three Rivers Community College.

And while basketball hoops hang from the ceiling, the action on the floor will be anything but a game for the customers-owners of Ozark Border Electric Cooperative who will be gathering for their annual conference.

By 4 p.m. Saturday, the result of the split within the cooperative will be known: The vote tally will be announced for the four Ozark Border board seats to be decided by the members of the utility cooperative.

At stake is a seat currently held by Bill Silliman of rural Dexter. However, in an unusual move, the board's Nominating Committee did not include Silliman on its slate of candidates, which includes the other three incumbent directors up for re-election. The Nominating Committee's slate includes Chairman Bob Griffin of Doniphan, Ray Thomas of Poplar Bluff, Maxine Duckett of Williamsville and newcomer Gerald Malin of Campbell.

Silliman, a retired farmer and real estate developer who has been on the Ozark board for nine years, is on an alternate slate that also includes Mark Yarbro, a local farmer, pharmacist and director of the Federal Land Bank; Tim Yates, a real estate broker, auctioneer and rancher; and Curtiss Webb, a farmer and retired U.S. Navy officer.

Ozark Border General Manager Stan Estes expects a large crowd at the annual meeting, which will feature entertainment and food, as well as the heated campaign for the board seats.

"There is a lot of interest in this territorial agreement and a lot of interest in this election," Estes said, diplomatically avoiding discussion of the election aspect of the annual meeting. Balloting on the four seats will end at 3 p.m., he said. Results should be announced about 30 or 40 minutes later. The day's activities are scheduled to end at 4 p.m.

Ozark Border, one of several electric cooperatives in Eastern Missouri that AmerenUE is negotiating with regarding a customer swap, is governed by a 12-member panel. Directors serve three-year terms; four seats are up for election each year.

The proposed territory swap between Ozark Border and AmerenUE -- which would affect several Stoddard County residents -- was the subject of a three-hour public hearing last week at Dexter High School. The hearing was conducted by the Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC), which will make the final administrative ruling on the proposed swap.