Save The School
Here is a link to an article in the Cape Girardeau paper about the Lesterville school. It would be too bad if they had to close the school after putting a new $900,000 FERC roof on the building. Still don't know if the first dollar of FERC fine money has actually been spent, lot of red tape with that free money.
posted by staff @ 9:42 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Regardless of the whole Ameren situation, why isn't Lesterville looking to diversify from Big Electric and tourism?
Most places don't have one big industry furnishing the majority of a tax base, and they manage to have schools, some public services, etc. All the eggs in one basket (or even two) isn't a good idea.
It's not impossible that Ameren might be bought out sometime in the future. (This isn't a knowledgeable leak...just a 'what if' thought.) If so, and the reconstituted power plant were again shut down, Lesterville would be in the same boat.
If you are not from here you need to realize that Lesterville is not a city. No elected government, no one with the authority to look at the big picture. The tourism business is just a bunch of mom and pop outfits (including Peola Valley Pottery) that all just try to make a buck. The other two big businesses, timber and lead, operate in different ways. Timber is a very fragmented business (timber owners, loggers, drivers, saw mills, pallet mills, and tie treatment plants) that provide a lot of employment. Anyone that reads the St Louis Post knows about Doe Run and the lead problems. The truth is that Missouri as a state has never wanted to face the financial problems it has with its education system. Other states do a better job.
I never lived in an incorporated city until I was 29 years old. Where I did grow up still does not have incorporated cities. They do everything by the district method, similar to the Lesterville area. Neither was there any big company in the area to provide a tax base. Nor any centralized economic planning
Where I live now is incorporated. They have been trying for 12 years to get some discount store to replace the Wal-Mart which left. City government isn't the answer either. Diversification isn't much, but it can help.
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