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Focus on Fort Scott's east entrance
An effort to beautify certain portions of Fort Scott, starting with properties along East Wall Street, could be getting underway this spring.
The Good Neighbor Action Team (GNAT), formed under the Fort Scott Community Visioning process, is looking to undertake a property improvement "blitz" in May to address blighted or dilapidated properties on East Wall Street from the bypass at Wall Street and U.S. Highway 69 east to the Fort Scott city limits.
Craig Campbell, representing the GNAT, provided an update on the proposed project to members of the Fort Scott Visioning Committee Friday at Mercy Hospital.
Campbell said the GNAT committee met Wednesday to discuss the proposed "blitz," which is scheduled for Saturday, May 30 and Sunday, May 31. Campbell said several hundred people are committed to the project, which will involve volunteer labor and a fundraising effort to help fund the projects.
"We have $15,188 cash on hand," Campbell said. "About 300 to 400 people are committed toward the goal. There's a lot of energy."
Campbell said city and chamber officials are involved with the project, and the city's codes department will also be "heavily involved."
"That's a huge positive going forward," he said.
For the planned "blitz," Campbell said some area churches are giving up their Sunday services to help with the project and "be of service to the community." He said there are also activities scheduled for children and youth participation.
"We'll see how big the scope is on what we're allowed to do on different properties, then we'll do some fundraising," he said.
Campbell said the codes department has already made improvements along the Wall Street corridor, cleaning up porches, waterways and vegetation in certain areas. He said one goal is to show property owners what their properties can possibly look like after improvements, not just structurally but also outside the property, such as cleaning curbs and gutters.
About 60 percent of the properties along the corridor are residential and about 40 percent are commercial, Campbell said after Friday's meeting. He said "from a housing standpoint," about 50 percent are rental properties. Most property owners live in Fort Scott or Bourbon County.
"GNAT went to one block about two years ago and did some work and visited with some homeowners," he said. "They did some work and we did some work. It's the idea of helping enhancing the curb appeal of that entrance into the city. It's been talked about for years.
"In the last year or so, we've formulated some ideas on how to approach improving curb appeal," he said.
Campbell said organizers are working on determining incentives for property owners to improve their properties, including volunteer and financial assistance. He said a "listening meeting," is planned for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 24, at the fire station on the east side of the city. Scott Moore, a member of the Visioning Committee, is involved with organizing this gathering and the Fort Scott Fire Department will help with setup.
"We'll provide some information on what's available in terms of tax relief to improve or beautify property," he said. "There is tax relief when you enhance property value. We'll have a town hall meeting to get information about what people want help with and their expectations, their impressions."
Campbell said this will be the committee's first attempt to engage the property owners in a discussion and other meetings will likely follow. He said the Wall Street corridor is planned to be addressed first, with a plan possibly later this year to begin addressing properties along other entrances to the city.
The city's Neighborhood Revitalization Program can benefit taxpayers by giving incentives to property owners who make improvements to their properties. Organizers of the Wall Street project are trying to find incentives for property owners and overcome one big hurdle they have encountered -- people who do not make property improvements because they don't want to see an increase in their property taxes.
Bourbon County Treasurer Rhonda Dunn, who attended Friday's meeting, said she has seen properties where owners won't fix the outside because of higher taxes, but the interior of the house "looks good."
"That's a reality," she said.
Currently, improvements must increase the property's assessed value by at least 15 percent.
Officials said City Attorney Bob Farmer is currently reviewing proposed changes in the program.
The visioning committee is looking at making modifications to the NRP such as decreasing the minimum threshold regarding increase in property value to 10 percent and waiving the program's $50 application fee for properties in the designated area of East Wall Street.
"If there's a property improvement and increased assessed valuation, property taxes will go up, but there is tax relief for residents for the difference in the increase," Campbell said.
During the Feb. 24 gathering, Bourbon County Appraiser Judy Wallis will be available for each property owner who attends to go over any proposed improvements and what those improvements would mean to their assessed valuations. Residential property owners can get five years worth of tax relief from improvements through the NRP. For business owners, the 100 percent rebate would be for 10 years. For historic properties, the rebate would be for 15 years.
Campbell said organizers of the effort plan to contact property owners in the area within the next couple of weeks to explain the project and encourage their attendance at the Feb. 24 meeting. He said there will be direct mail advertising and door-to-door contact to find out what owners think about the project and what they are willing to do with their properties.
"It's kind of a teaser to get folks to come and see what we're talking about," he said.
Fort Scott Visioning Committee member Reta Baker said the proposed project is a "great idea, if people take ownership in it." She asked Campbell during the meeting if the GNAT group has encountered any barriers thus far.
"We're running with it," he said.