City OKs Plat for Mystic Heights
Constitution-Tribune Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Chillicothe City Council members approved the final plat for the first phase of Mystic Heights Development when they gathered for their regular semimonthly meeting Monday night at City Hall.
The plat, presented by Randy Constant of Mystic Land Development, had been recommended for approval by the city’s Planning and Zoning Board and its approval was the final action needed to be taken by the council to allow development to begin. Ron Urton, of the city’s contracted engineering firm of Shafer, Kline and Warren, said work could start after the developer provides an escrow account for the cost of improvements for Phase I and final construction plans. The proposed Mystic Heights development consists of around 14 acres of land on the north side of Third Street in southwest Chillicothe. The land was previously owned by the state of Missouri and used by the Department of Corrections.

Constant, along with David Buttman, also of Mystic Land Development LLC, of Chillicothe, plan to build 100 medium-income level housing units, with the half of them to be completed within five years. The first phase to be developed is along the west side of the property (Woodrow Street) and consists of nine single family dwellings.

In other business Monday night, the council approved two conditional use permits for oversized signs at two new businesses. The requests were made by Woody’s Auto Body at 35 South Washington Street, and by Comfort Inn at 250 West Business Highway 36 and had been recommended for approval by the city’s Planning and Zoning Board. Representatives from both businesses were present at Monday’s council meeting.

Also Monday night, Mayor Chuck Haney presented two board members with certificates of appreciation for their years of service on advisory boards. They were Jim Beemer, who has served on the Airport Board for 16 years, and Roger Comer of Wireco Worldgroup of Chillicothe, who served four years on the city's Railroad Advisory Board.

Several introductions were made during the meeting, including Derick Allen who has been hired as a new full-time firefighter and EMT, Scott Chubick, who was recently promoted to sergeant with the police department, and Matt Rodriguez who was recently promoted to lieutenant. Also introduced during the meeting were leaders and members of Boy Scout Troop 121.

Mayor Chuck Haney presided over Monday night's meeting with the full council present. In other business Monday night, the council:

• Heard an update by Ron Urton regarding the Third Street project. He said the project is 98% complete with the contractor placing sod and doing final cleanup.
• Approved the payment of invoices of $1,368,762.91 and payroll $121,755.26. The invoices included approximately $1.2 million for the reinvestment of general fund and Grand River Health System funds.
• Discussed but took no action to spend $1,640 to buy signs to be placed along US Highway 65 designating the location of the new Chillicothe Correctional Center.
• Gave approval to seek bids for moving a generator at the old prison to the city-owned airport.
• Approved a contract change order with Shafer Kline & Warren which release the firm from any liability regarding city code enforcement and zoning work. SKW has been working as the city's zoning administrator and code enforcement officer since August.

An executive session, closed to the public, was held following the regular session. No votes were taken during the closed meeting.