General

Hunting of Canada Geese off of Branson Landing “Goosed.”

The sound of shot gun blasts got the attention of Lamar Patton, the owner of Scotty’s Trout Dock, late on the afternoon of Sep.26. When he looked downstream off his dock he noticed some nit wits in a boat located just downstream from the Business Highway Bridge apparently enjoying a challenging day of hunting. They were shooting the almost domesticated Canada Geese just off the Branson Landing Parking lot within the city limits of Branson.

Several calls to local law enforcement agencies resulted in not only in no one responding to the call, but telling Lamar “It’s a conservation issue.” It wasn’t a “discharging a firearm inside the city limits issue,” but a “conservation issue” and, to the best of Lamar’s knowledge, no law enforcement officer responded to the call.

Does that mean it’s open season on Canada Geese in the Branson City limits waters between the Branson Landing shoreline and the center of Lake Taneycomo? Not hardly! City of Branson Police Chief Carroll McCullough said that, if the situation transpired as described, it was more than “a conservation issue” it was a violation of a city ordinance against the discharging a firearm within the city limits. Does that mean that those wanting to shoot ducks and geese on Lake Taneycomo should find somewhere else to do it other than within the waters of the city limits of Branson? Absolutely!

WOW, do Branson Airport Visitors Spend More?

Those attending the annual meeting of the Branson Lakes Area Tourism Community Enhancement District on Sep. 24 were given information by Branson Lakes/Lakes Area Convention and Visitors Bureau that the average spending “per party” was $919.34 for the 2009 reporting period up from $799.99 for the 2008 reporting period. That was good, but nothing compared to the report given by Jeff Bourke, Executive Director of the Branson Airport. A published report in this week’s Taney County Times on that report states “The Branson Airport has generated $92 million in visitor spending…” and that “At least 41 percent of the more than 10,000 people who have flown to Branson via the airport are first time visitors.” Using Ole Seagull math and assuming that it’s not much more than 10,000 people, that amounts to an incredible $9,200 per person or $18,400 for a “party” of two.

$680 K for ADA mandated ramps not one penny for cross walks.

The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) is currently installing 393 sidewalk ramps at street and driveway entrances along West Highway 76 between Roark Valley and Gretna Roads “to meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).” The $680,000 in funding for the project is stimulus money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Interestingly, between the west side of the junction of Fall Creek Road and Gretna Road there is not one cross walk for pedestrians, with or without a disability,  to use to get afely from one side of Highway 76 to the other. Well the good news is that when they are built the sidewalk ramps will be there and until then those trying to cross Highway 76 will at least have a target to aim for.

Taney County Transportation Committee should win “Most Useless Award.”

What is the Taney County’s priority for the southern end of Fall Creek Road as the city of Branson is about to open the Fall Creek Road extension which will create the opportunity for a main north south corridor road from Highway 165 to Highway 248? Maybe the “Shadow knows,” but no one else knows because there is no list of Taney County transportation priorities. What a pathetic situation for a Class 1 county, transportation planning by osmosis, influence, or “pluck.” Based on what they have accomplished so far the Ole Seagull just has to nominate those on the “Taney County Transportation Committee,” or whatever it is currently being called, for his first annual “Transportation’s Most Useless Award.” The award has as much influence and value as their contribution to solving the transportation problems of Taney County has had thus far.

At the outset an Ole Seagull would point out that he is a personal friend of Steve Monroe, the owner of Gas Buster Tours. Too he would admit to being disappointed and angry. The question he must answer before writing this column however is, “Would he have written it even if the city had granted the sign permit and he believed the process was still flawed?” The answer is “Yes.” It is not about Monroe’s sign; it is about the process and what happens to the next business or person who finds themselves in a similar situation.

Monroe, initially erected a directional sign authorized under subsection 70-10(10) of the Branson Municipal Code (BMC) entitled, “Private traffic entrance and directional signs.” The BMC reads, “Signs directing traffic movement onto premises or within premises, not exceeding six square feet in area for each sign, shall be allowed. Advertising logos are allowed, but are limited to no more than 25 percent of the total sign area of each sign. One entrance sign and one exit sign shall be allowed for each public street entrance. Each sign shall be a maximum of three feet in height to the top of the sign, and each sign shall be a maximum of three feet in width. Horizontal signs on and flush with paved areas are exempt from these standards.”

If read exactly the way it is written, should it take a highly paid bureaucrat or legal Solomon to determine what the purpose of the sign is and what a person or business has to do to be in compliance with its provisions? To an Ole Seagull, if a law prescribes something a business or person has to do, that law should be straight forward enough so that most people with a fifth grade reading comprehension level could read it and know what they had to do.

Having misread the scope of the exception provided in 70-10(10), Monroe put a directional sign up directing traffic into the parking lot for his primary business operation “Casino Day Trips,” which he designed, had built and believed was in accordance with 70-10(10). There was an initial problem with the fact that the scope of the exception did not cover “permitting” and the city’s Planning & Development Department enforcement folks were on him in a flash and removed the sign because he had no permit.

This is where the Ole Seagull got involved because to him it appeared that the odds were being stacked against Monroe in terms of arbitrary and selective enforcement. An Ole Seagull wondered how much of a gamble it would be to bet that similar directional signs, prominently displayed on Branson Landing Boulevard, directing traffic into the parking lot of Bass Pro’s Tracker Boat “Service Department” didn’t have a permit. Sure enough, shortly after it was alluded to in his July 26 column, the signs came down, Bass Pro applied for a permit on July 30 and it was granted within about 24 hours.

An Ole Seagull would bet, that there is no better illustration of the arbitrariness, selectivity, and the “we write the law so it means what we say it does regardless of the way it reads mentality” used by the city of Branson’s Planning & Development Department than the way the “Tracker Boat” sign was handled. From beginning to end, it testifies as to what appears to be the double standard that department uses in enforcing its regulations. However, before entering into that discussion maybe the city would be kind enough to answer a few questions.

What is the specific name appearing on the application for the permit for the “Tracker Boats Service Department” sign?” Has a city business license been issued to “Tracker Boats?” Was the “Tracker Boats” logo on the sign “authorized” or required by 70-10(10)? Is there anything in 70-10(10) prohibiting the use of language on the sign describing the specific business operation the traffic is being directed into such as, was used in the “Tracker Boat” sign, “Service Department?” Is the definition of “Logo” as contained in the BMC different from the normally accepted definition of “Logo?” If a term is defined in an ordinance is the definition of that term incorporated by reference wherever that term is subsequently used in the ordinance?

The simple truth is that, at least for our time on this earth, we all have but one life to live. It logically follows that whatever a person is going to do with that life, or whatever someone or something is going to do for or to that person, must be done during their lifetime if it is to have any meaningful impact on their lives.

The U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights prescribes certain individual rights and freedoms that apply to individuals. If those rights are to have any meaning to an individual they must apply to that individual during their lifetime or they are meaningless.

It should be pointed out that the Ole Seagull was born in 1941, has never owned a slave and doesn’t know of anyone in his family that every did, abhors the very idea of slavery, and, personally, believes that permitting the institution of slavery in our constitution sowed the seeds that are leading to the very destruction of this country today. He believes, with every fiber of his body, that every American, whether classed as an “American Indian or Alaska Native,” “Asian,” “Black or African American,” “Native Hawaiian” or “Other Pacific Islander”, and “White,” should be treated equally during the one life that they will have to live. (Terms quoted above are the “racial categories” the U.S. Census Bureau designated as of 2003.)

He does not believe that his rights, or the rights of any other American to enjoy the full rights and opportunities of being an American, should be based on racial category or modified or abridged for the benefit of any other racial category. Yet, because he is “White,” for most of his adult life he has had to listen to the tripe that his rights and the rights of “White Americans” should be modified or abridged in favor of “Black or African Americans” who apparently feel that they are owed something because of slavery and the way their race was treated in the past.

For the majority of his lifetime, which is really the only practical knowledge and experience he can apply to the situation, “White Americans” have been discriminated against in everything from college admissions, government contracts, getting job positions and promotions to loans, government assistance programs and many other areas. But that’s not the worst part, the worst part is the decades of increasing dribble from “Black or African Americans” that they are entitled to extra advantages etc. and playing the infamous “race card” when they don’t get their way or its to their advantage to do so.

Two recent situations illustrate the point, the Gates situation with the Cambridge police and the CBS Big Brother show. In the Gates case, which has received national publicity, he did something stupid and played the race card trying to mitigate it. In the CBS Big Brother Show, a “Black or African American” woman played the race card during the first eviction vote implying that racism would be a factor if she were voted off the show.

In the interest of making the conversation a two way dialogue may the Ole Seagull ask, “Why is not the conversation about how over the last 40 years ‘White Americans’ have been discriminated against in favor of ‘Black or African Americans?’” The sad thing is that it’s not even socially acceptable to ask the question, but does that mean it should not be asked and discussed if there is to be a full and honest discussion on what “White Americans” owe “Black Americans” today? The truly said thing is that the question even has to be considered.

In an on online piece by Andrea Reiher entitled “America’s Got Talent’: Rockin’ Rory rocks’” published on zap2it.com in its June 23 “It Happened Last Night” section” the writer appeared to take a gratuitous slam at the quality of entertainment in Branson. Why the writter even had to mention Branson in the piece in the context they did is beyond an Ole Seagull’s comprehension. What good purpose was served?

The perceived slam was contained in the articles evaluation about the performance of Peter Peterkin. In total it said:

“A Barack Obama imitator named Pete Peterkin. He’s… meh. He’s got some of the Obama speech patterns down but it’s also kind of James Brown doing Barack Obama. No sooner have I typed that then Pete puts on a wig and goes into his James Brown imitation. Honestly, this guy isn’t good enough to play Branson, let alone Vegas. He says he does about 100 imitations and plays 15 instruments. The crowd chants Vegas, but the judges are on the fence. They end up putting him through, though.”

The good news for Branson, Reiher’s innuendo aside, is that the talent that does play Branson is good enough so that Branson will be celebrating 50 years of live music shows this year and entertain over six million visitors.

An Ole Seagull’s musings on this and that in and around Branson and a wish for a happy Father’s Day:

No carousel or camel rides at Branson Landing: At the work session of the Branson Board of Alderman on May 18, it was announced that the businessmen wanting to bring a carousel into the Public Square at Branson Landing had withdrawn their request. That probably doesn’t bode well for the camel rides either.

Forsythe blemish still evident: The good news is that Branson has a wonderful new road and intersection between State Highway 76 and Roark Valley Road. The bad news is that the new Forsythe Road takes locals and tourists alike through what looks like “death valley east.” Adds new meaning to the term, “Beauty of the Ozarks.”

What is the real cost of the “free” Discovery Trolley? When the businesses were questioning the availability of parking in Historic Downtown Branson a couple of years ago, one of their representatives estimated the value of each downtown parking space at $65,000 per year. How many spaces are allocated for the “free” Discovery Trolley at a total of how many dollars? Add that to “x” number of dollars for a total cost of how much to operate the trolley?

Taney County Assessor not pleased with recent editorial: A recent news report in this newspaper contained a line that the Taney Country Assessor was not pleased with a recent editorial that some might construe to be critical of the way property taxes have been assessed. At the end of the day however, it probably works out because there are a lot of Taney County property owners that are not pleased with the way the Taney County Assessor has assessed their property.

Table Rock Dam contributes to Branson’s uniqueness: On June 14, the area celebrated the 50th anniversary of the dedication of Table Rock Dam. The flood control and electricity it provides are great benefits, but, in terms of Branson’s tourism it is its impoundment of Table Rock Lake that contributes substantially to Branson’s uniqueness. One can almost feel the hand of God blessing Branson as Table Rock Dam, Silver Dollar City, and Branson’s first show all blossomed forth within a relatively short time of each other.

Will Branson & Taney County taxpayers pay the cost of relocating Lake Shore Drive: Rumor has it that Kanakuk Kamps wants to relocate Lake Shore Drive around their property at a cost of about $3 million dollars. That may or may not be a good idea, it may or may not cost $3 million, but to an Ole Seagull, it shouldn’t cost Taney County tax payers one penny.

Despite voter’s rejection there is still pressure from some for East West Corridor: Especially in view of what the voters did relative to the county tax issue that was allegedly for the Lake Taneycomo Bridge not too long ago, forcing the vote on the East West Corridor Road and Exposition Center onto the February ballot this year was perhaps not the brightest political move of all time. They got their vote and their answer yet, there seems to be a constant pressure by some who did not get what they wanted to get things the way they want them. Anyone want to bet how it’s going to turn out?

Happy Father’s Day: William Wordsworth said, “Father! – to God himself we cannot give a holier name” and Red Buttons said, “Never raise your hand to your kids. It leaves your groin unprotected.” To Wordsworth an Ole Seagull would say, “Amen, to Buttons he would suggest that, hand aside, it is the heart that is most exposed when raising children and to all fathers he would share the words of Elizabeth Stone who said, “Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.” Happy Father’s Day.