SCOTT CITY COUNCIL VOTES TO PAY LATE DUES

SCOTT CITY -- From the start, Scott City has had somewhat of a tumultuous relationship with the Cape Girardeau Area Industrial Recruitment Association from the start.

The city paid its first quarterly dues in April 1993, via a $1,250 "gift" received by the Scott City Chamber of Commerce from an anonymous donor.

Walt Wildman, director of the Regional Commerce and Growth Association, said at the time that his agency acted as a middle man between anonymous contributors and the Scott City chamber.

On Monday, the Scott City Council may have wished it had another anonymous gift. Scott City Mayor Larry Forhan received a second late notice from Joseph Gambill, chairman of the board of the directors.

The council then voted unanimously to pay its dues to the industrial association for the first two quarters.

"The chamber was supposed to go out and finance this," said Ward 1 Councilwoman Brenda Moyers. "But it appears that some of our sponsors have backed out.

"I know we need to participate in this organization and I want it badly, but can we find a way to do it?" she continued. "Where's the money going to come from?"

The money came from a small surplus in the city's insurance and bond accounts.

"I guess we could call (the payment) a type of insurance," said City Clerk Nona Walls.

"It's insuring our future," said Moyers.

A $2,500 payment for the first two quarters of 1994 will be made from that account; the council hopes the rest will figure into the next budget year. The council also hopes to work with the city's chamber of commerce to raise funds to make the quarterly payments.

Originally, the Scott City Council did not want to get involved in the recruitment association. When the measure came before the council in February 1993, members agreed the money would be better spent within the city than on an organization that was run and controlled by Cape Girardeau and Cape Girardeau County.

But then the council changed its tune. In March 1993, Forhan was extolling the efforts and possibilities of the recruitment association to the other council members.

Scott City has pledged $5,000 out of the organization's total $150,000 budget, much less than any other participants.

"We don't have many development tools available to us," said Ward 2 Councilman John Rogers. "This one is a good deal for the price."

After the council approved the payment of the dues, Rogers was appointed as the city's representative to meetings of the association.