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Volume 103 ⢠Number 247 ⢠Friday, December 20, 2013 ⢠PO Box 188 ⢠111 E. Jenkins ⢠Maryville, MO
75¢
Tax deadline set for closed CMC facility By TONY BROWN News Editor
A company seeking to purchase the former Carbolytic Materials Company plant east of Maryville has signed an agreement with the Nodaway County Commission to discharge a $274,000 personal property tax debt by the end of December. County Collector-Treasurer Marilyn Jenkins confirmed Thursday the deal was in place, adding that failure to pay off the back taxes before the deadline will result in her office filing a lawsuit against the corporation, which she declined to name. Jenkins said she has been working with Nodaway County Prosecuting Attorney Robert Rice to prepare the way for immediate legal action if the money isnât forthcoming. Carbolytic Materials Company, usually referred to as CMC, came to Maryville with much fanfare in 2008. The St. Louis-based startup, founded by a group of St. Louis businessmen, created a wave of excitement locally just as Nodaway County was beginning to reel under the first blows of the Great Recession.
âBefore placing $43,000 against its tax debt on account with the county, CMC owed Maryville R-II Schools alone more than $200,000.â
CMCâs chief executive Ray Riek, a former chemical engineer for Monsanto, touted the companyâs âproprietary technology,â which was designed to recover oil, gas and the plastics manufacturing agent carbon black from shredded automotive tires. Former Northwest Missouri State University President Dean Hubbard sensed opportunity and convinced Riek to move CMCâs research and development arm into the stillunfinished Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, a campus-based business incubator. At the time, the deal seemed like a major coup for Northwest, especially after an earlier agreement with Ventria Bioscience fell through, leaving the university with a multimillion-dollar facility and no major tenants. During a series of ribbon cuttings, document signings and suit-and-tie receptions, Hubbard and other local leaders and elected officials described the coming of CMC as the dawn of a new economic day for the Maryville area, predicting the creation of scores of good paying jobs by an operation that would improve the environment by ridding dumps of millions of tons of discarded rubber. The dream faded quickly. Soon, local merchants and suppliers were complaining that CMC didnât pay its bills. Then, a couple of years ago, county officials disclosed that the company had failed to pay tens of thousands of dollars in property taxes. In addition, a series of fires and a large oil spill had both local firefighters and the Missouri Department of Natural See CMC, Page 9A
Searching for the right solution
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Workers prepare to apply stucco to a damaged wall painting on the southwest corner of the courthouse square in Maryville. The mural was damaged during a 2010 windstorm and has proved to be an eyesore and a headache for both City Hall and the buildingâs owner ever since.
Damaged mural faces uncertainty
By TONY BROWN News Editor
The fate of a large mural depicting the Maryville square as it appeared decades ago and featuring the likenesses of famous former Nodaway County residents remains undecided after workers repaired damage to the artwork this week caused by a July 2010 windstorm. The storm ripped off a large section near the top of the painting and left large cracks across the face of the image, which was rendered on stucco and bolted to the side of a century-old brick storefront about a decade ago. Located at 104 E. Third St., the building is owned by local businessman Kam Fai Wong, who said Thursday he is working with the city to address maintenance concerns involving the roof and west exterior wall where the mural is attached. The damaged painting has been
a problem for City Hall ever since the storm, creating an eyesore on the edge of a downtown that received a major face lift a couple of years ago with the completion of a $3 million streetscape project. Fearing additional chunks of the mural would fall to the ground, endangering passersby, the city cordoned off the area, including a small, unkempt vacant lot owned by absentee landowners Robert and Eugenia Nagel. City officials said this week their hands are tied with regard to getting the lot cleaned up and the mural restored since both are private property. City Manager Greg McDanel said Thursday there have been legal wrangles between the city and the Nagles with regard to the lot, once the site of an old bank building long since torn down. As for the mural, it was the brain child of the Maryville Citizens for
Community Action, an ad hoc group that no longer exists. Created by Chillicothe artist Kelly Poling in the early 2000s, the mural was subject to a contract with the buildingâs former owner â Wong acquired the property later â that allowed the city to maintain the artwork. However, McDanel said the arrangement has expired. Wong said the repairs, which consisted of plastering over the broken portion of the painting, are temporary, and that a permanent fix will have to wait until he figures out who, if anybody, is responsible for Polingâs work. City Code Enforcement Officer James Wiederholt said Thursday another problem is the west side of Wongâs building, the one behind the painting, which was originally constructed as an interior wall. Over the years, Wiederholt said, the brick surface has taken a beatSee Mural, Page 9A
Manor, Ministry Center team to benefit families By KEVIN BIRDSELL Staff Writer
A charitable effort
KEVIN BIRDSELL/MARYVILLE DAILY FORUM
Bristol Manor residents shown standing by their Christmas tree: Front row, left to right: Betty Martin, Mary-Kathrine Ball and Donna Kaminski. Back row, left to right: Rose Robbins, Lanore Inlow, Doris McDonald, Margorie Raseo and Carl Pierpoint.
OFFICE NUMBER
660-562-2424
INSIDE
Bristol Manor is one of the smaller nursing homes in Maryville. Still, though the home has only ten residents, the folks who live and work there are striving to help out local families in a big way. Bristol Manor manager Linda Austin has paired with the Ministry Center in Maryville to donate food to families in need this holiday season. The home is collecting non-perish-
Record.................... 2A Opinion.................. 4A Religion.................. 5A
Sports...........1B,2B,8B Comics....................7B Bearcat Pullout... 4-5B
able food items throughout the holiday season and will donate all gifts to the Ministry Center. Each person who donates a food item can put their names on a ornament to be hung on the Bristol Manor Christmas tree. The nursing home tries to put a little different spin on the holidays each year. In 2012, it collected school supplies and raised money for breast cancer awareness. Food donations will be accepted through Jan. 4.
OUTSIDE
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