Leaders in Joplin OK tornado recovery plan

JOPLIN, Mo. -- Community leaders in Joplin have endorsed a long-term tornado recovery plan they hope will serve as a national example for other disaster-ravaged areas.

The Joplin City Council, school board and chamber of commerce, as well as the board of aldermen in neighboring Duquesne, swiftly approved the recovery plan at a Thursday night meeting that ended after barely 30 minutes, though it was scheduled to last two hours. The only hiccup: passing a microphone from one end to the other of a U-shaped table crammed with 45 elected officials and business owners.

The plan was developed by a group of volunteers based on comments offered by area residents at a series of public discussions that began several weeks after the May 22 tornado killed 161 people and destroyed thousands of buildings, from homes and churches to big-box retail businesses and one of the city's two hospitals.

Recommendations include creation of four business districts that would also allow residents to live and shop nearby. The plan also calls for a city committee to ensure new construction meets certain design standards, including more landscaping to offset commercial projects and parking lots.

The report from the Citizens Advisory Recovery Team also recommends greater enforcement of nuisance codes, stepped-up efforts to encourage the buying of property insurance, and the construction of a Joplin medical school, a project long sought by local leaders. A "master developer" hired by the city will oversee the rebuilding plan. The city is soliciting proposals for that position through the end of the month.

What the 21-page document doesn't include are many specifics about how to pay for such projects. That's by design, said Jane Cage, a Joplin business owner who helped lead the advisory panel. She called the plan "a skeleton that will become the framework for recovery."

"This is not a complete recovery plan," she said. "It's not cast in granite. This is not the Ten Commandments of recovery. ... This is a signal to everyone that we are ready to pick up the pace."

Once it was time for public comments, no one in the crowd of roughly 150 people stood up to speak.

"We're happy," a man shouted from his seat.

After a second request for comments, Joplin resident John Hale approached the podium. The retired vice president at Leggett & Platt, who said he "used to live at 2424 Illinois" before his home was destroyed, had nothing but kind words to say.

"I'm here to say, `thank you very much,"' Hale said. "It's unbelievable, the level of cooperation that has taken place here. ... We are so proud of you."

That cooperative spirit is being noticed by lawmakers in Jefferson City, said state Sen. Ron Richard, a Joplin Republican who presided over the meeting. A Kansas City-based FEMA official offered similarly high marks.

"This is absolutely exciting, wonderful, heartwarming," said Steve Castaner, a disaster assistance specialist with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "It's really amazing to see communities come together and make some real strides to work together. It's logical that everyone should work together and communicate, but sometimes it's easier said than done. It doesn't always happen that way."

Signs of the recovery are emerging in Joplin, accelerated by a comparatively mild winter that has allowed construction to continue uninterrupted. The city has issued more than 500 building permits for new homes since May 22, and the Missouri Housing Development Commission has committed about $100 million in tax credits and loans over the coming decade to spark the construction of low-to-moderate income rental units and single-family, owner-occupied homes in the Joplin area.

Chamber of Commerce President Rob O'Brian said Thursday that 420 of the 530 local businesses that were either destroyed or heavily damaged have since reopened. The local group hosted a delegation of national business executives Thursday from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as well as United Parcel Service, Shell, Speedco, Toyota and the Discovery Channel.

Joshua Barnes, a disaster recovery specialist with the federal commerce department, said the group was impressed with Joplin's resilience and the community's work ethic.

"One of the biggest things that distinguish communities that can thrive (after a disaster) are those that can organize themselves, and pull themselves up by their bootstraps," he said. "Joplin has really demonstrated that capacity."

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Online: Citizens Advisory Recovery Team, http://joplinareacart.com

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Alan Scher Zagier can be reached at http://twitter.com/azagier