City says goodbye to MARC, lone bid snags facility for $200k

Mt. Vernon community center purchased by city in 2011 for $952K, recently appraised for $600K; local outfit new owner
 
Fifteen years after purchasing a former church building that would become the Mt. Vernon Arts and Recreation Center, the City of Mt. Vernon has let the facility go. There was only one bidder, Tents for All Events, based out of Mt. Vernon, who placed a bid to purchase the sprawling 52,425 square foot building. Their $200,000 bid, with no competition, was unanimously accepted by the Mt. Vernon Board of Aldermen at the body’s Jan. 13 meeting.
The building, originally purchased in 2011 for $952,233, appraised for roughly $600,000, meaning the bid came in at $400,000 below appraisal value. This bid only includes the building, not the three acres of grassy area behind the building or the fixtures in the building, such as chairs and tables. The new owners may negotiate further for the fixtures, which the company knew about at the time of bidding.
After the vote, Mayor Jason Haymes said with relief, “We have a new owner.”
With that, the MARC is out of city hands.

Vagrancy causing concern
Citizen participation during the meeting began with Haymes saying, “I’m glad to have it,” and noting the unusual turnout of citizens at the meeting.
Scott C. Lewis and William Scott Lewis, owners of Freedom Storage on Mt. Vernon Boulevard, were first to step up to speak. They requested assistance from the city on how to handle the homeless population and vagrancy around their business. They maintained compassion for those without a place to live but expressed their need for professionalism.
“It feels like we have no rights, even though we’re the property owners,” said William Scott Lewis.
Roger Pottorff, owner of Tire World, also on Mt. Vernon Boulevard, seconded this need for city intervention.
“I just want to bring up how hostile the environment has gotten,” Pottorff said.
After going into detail about the troubles this issue has caused, the mayor promised to “work on that issue.”

Lampe’s fight for ghost tours continues
Ghost hunter Matthew Lampe was next to speak, requesting city assistance to acquire the former Missouri Rehabilitation Center (MRC) buildings, with the intention of having paranormal investigations and ghost tours, which the city already rejected. Being persistent, Lampe asserted that MRC “can be a long-term revenue generating engine for the community.”
“They estimated almost $40 billion in the historical tour and paranormal investigation business,” said Lampe, though no sources were given for this number. He added that Missouri State Penitentiary has made almost $900,000 in revenue doing historical and paranormal tours and investigations. “It would do absolutely nothing but positive things for the town and for the people,” he said.
Lampe predicted high revenue estimates within the first year after very low costs for renovation. Alderman Dave Eden asked where the money would come from.
“It would be an almost immediate return of funds from the city,” Lampe replied.
Lampe also shared that John Benton, who now owns the property, is a “crook and a swindler, funneling money through this town.” Lampe no longer has permission to be on the property, per Benton.

Against ghost tours
Jerry Fussell, owner of Solar Solutions, and Caleb Cupp, owner of Heartbeat Development, came to speak to the board about their aversion to using MRC as a ghost tour hub. The two business owners employ 80 people in Mt. Vernon and own the building at 412 N. Main and about 40 acres around MRC. They used to lease the MRC grounds from Benton until recently in order to get easier access off of Highway 39.
Fussell and Cupp stated that they have spent roughly $100,000 of their own expenses towards engineering analyses on a rebuilding of MRC. Heartbeat Development has a pending offer to buy MRC, while Solar Solutions was denied when they bid.
 Their plan is to develop 200 cabins and two large recreation centers. Their offer on MRC would be a slow redevelopment, due to money constraints. There is almost daily criminal activity happening at the MRC, be it breaking and entering, stealing or vandalizing. Fussell proposes that the only way to solve the problem is to open the building up and have business activity within.
“Our intention is to make these buildings higher-end senior housing, maybe townhouses in the future, but we expect a very high-end neighborhood,” Fussell said. “It does worry us that there would be ghost tours next door. So, we would be adamantly opposed to that. We will do whatever financially or legally to stop that.”
Fussell and Cupp mentioned the vagrancy issue, as well, and requested city help regarding the homeless population.
The mayor responded with the understanding that something must be done with MRC property but that it might be slow moving.
“City government processes are not like me and you shaking hands in the backyard to do some work,” said Haymes, “It’s a process. We have legal authority to do certain things and other things we don’t. We have legal advice on whether we should even try it or not, if it’s even legal. We are in the process with the MRC.”

City Admin
After citizen participation was closed, City Administrator Robert Harrington began his report.
For the Hickory Street TAP Grant, Harrington needed approval from the board for the mayor to sign the contract with ATS Contractors. They won the bid at $457,573, which is slightly more than the estimated engineering cost of $446,717.18. This motion passed.
Next, he requested several approvals. Approval of Microsoft Office 365 License Renewal, Trogdon-Marshall Agency Insurance Renewal, Diventures Agreement to run the pool during the 2026 summer season at Spirit of ’76 Park, Landrum Street Culvert replacement, and the Letter of Agreement to conduct a survey and civil engineering analysis for a total of $15,000. Each of these motions passed.
Harrington mentioned the bill that would be presented towards the end of the meeting regarding the MPUA Mutual Aid Program and the ordinance to be read. He gave a short report about the helpfulness of Hometown Grid, which 56 customers have used in the last month since its installment; there 245 texts inbound, 491 texts outbound and 959 people who looked at the map during outages.
Harrington mentioned a citywide service day, with a preliminary meeting on Feb. 12. Also mentioned were evaluations for city employees, with a request for a personnel-appointed committee before May. He is looking into updating the city’s Enterprise fleet. Lastly, the city recognized Geoff Ford with a sign at the park, Geoff Ford Lane, as a thank you for 30-plus years of service to the park.

Public Works
“Good evening, everybody, I need some money,” Dustin Davis humorously said when he began his report for the Public Works Department.
For the Electric Department, he requested material purchase for transformers, bulk inventory restocking from Fletcher Reinhardt for $91,732.15, equipment purchase of PPE rubber goods from T+E for $7,638.85 and personnel training for Wyatt Pope through MPUA of $3,000. These motions all passed.
For the Sewer Department, Davis requested the Sewer Jetter machine repair, up to $8,000. The Wastewater Department needs pump replacements from JCI Industry for $23,236. The Water Department needs Water Meter ERTs, 100 units for $11,500. All these motions were passed, as well.

Planning and Zoning
In the Building and Zoning Monthly Permit Summary and Report, Trent Thompson shared that there were 261 permits building in 2025, equaling $30 million in evaluation, which was 10 times the amount in 2024. In total, 24 commercial buildings and 75 homes were built during the year. He also requested a Conditional Use Permit for the Walnut Apartments at 301 W. Mt. Vernon Blvd., which passed.

Police Report
Police Chief David Hubert requested permission to sign a contract with Lexipol Policy Management System, which would digitize the manual and allow officers to have digital access to all the information they could need from their cell phones. This would cost $22,499.10. He also sought permission to advertise for two open vacancies in the department. Both motions passed.

Ordinances and bills
Six bills were presented, and all six were passed. The two bills of note were Ordinance No. 9.39 and Ordinance No. 14.364. The first authorized the mayor to sign the MPUA Mutual Aid Program Agreement, which the city administrator spoke on earlier in the meeting. The second bill authorized an access easement for Solar Solutions, which allows the company to move easily through the MRC lot.
The next Mt. Vernon Board of Aldermen meeting will be at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 27 at council chambers.