CENTERVILLE, Mo. • Jim Hill, a no-nonsense man in cowboy boots, a crisp white shirt and crisper blue jeans with a large gold belt buckle, opened a recent meeting of the Taum Sauk Fund board as usual: "We always read our purpose."
That purpose - to dispense $7 million for economic development and tourism in Reynolds and Iron counties after the collapse of Ameren's Taum Sauk dam - is about the only point on which the nine-member board agreed.
After three years of discord, the money has done little to help residents in the Ozark counties who say they're still struggling from a decline in tourism after the breach, coupled with the recession.
Less than $1 million has been awarded, yet the fund has actually grown to $7.1 million, earning interest while the board argued.
The situation became so unworkable that on Feb. 17, the board voted to dissolve and split the money between the counties.
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What happens next is uncertain.
"The biggest problem is ideology," said Tom Crowell, a board member from the beginning. He and the three other Iron County members wanted to spend the money to jolt the lagging economy.
The five Reynolds County members wanted to preserve the fund, and succeeded.
"They are happy with making interest," said Crowell, who owns a bed and breakfast in Arcadia. "What good does that money do if it sits in a bank?"
Hill, the board president from Reynolds County, says it does plenty of good. He wants the money around for his grandchildren.
"I'd like to see it do something over a long period of time," he said.
Grants so far have included more than $4,500 for a Fourth of July car show in Pilot Knob, and $15,800 for the Bunker Volunteer Fire Department to pay for music at an Oktoberfest.
A controversial $59,000 grant will fund a fenced-in playground and trails behind a school in Lesterville, leading many to question how that will benefit economic development or tourism.
"I don't see any little kids in ºüÀêÊÓƵ tugging on their parents saying, ‘Take me to the playground in Lesterville,' " said William Matthew McCarter of Ironton.
Bertha LaPlante agrees. She owns Bert's Corner, an Ironton shop filled with candles, teapots, wreaths and homemade soap.
She would prefer a focus on economic development, such as bringing an ice cream parlor or movie theater to town, instead of a playground.
"It's not what that money was set up for. I don't see that as helping the economy," said LaPlante, who is on the Arcadia Valley Chamber of Commerce.
TOURISM TANKS
Reynolds County is home to Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park. It was flooded and heavily damaged when a 700-foot section of the earthen dike surrounding a reservoir owned by AmerenUE, now Ameren Missouri, broke Dec. 14, 2005, and released more than a billion gallons of water.
Tourism suffered after the breach. Johnson's Shut-Ins saw 70 percent fewer visitors in 2006 than the previous year.
Neighboring Iron County also saw a drop in tourists. That county is home to the state's highest peak, Taum Sauk Mountain, and Fort Davidson State Park, site of one of Missouri's largest Civil War battles.
Ameren paid nearly $200 million in settlements with federal regulators and the state after the dam atop Proffit Mountain failed. In late 2007, then-Attorney General Jay Nixon gave $7 million of that money to help revitalize the two counties. The Taum Sauk Fund board was born in early 2008 to disperse the money.
Problems arose from the start.
The Arcadia Valley Chamber had hoped to use some of the money to pay for bands at summer concerts. But the chamber has a 501(c)(6) nonprofit status, and the Taum Sauk Fund can give money only to nonprofits with a 501(c)(3) status, such as schools.
Nixon is now governor. His office would not answer on Friday why the fund had been set up with limits on which nonprofit groups could benefit from it.
Glee Suntrip, who owns the Bearcat Getaway resort in Lesterville, said all nonprofits should be eligible. She is furious that the fund is not being spent.
"This money can do so much for this region and they want to sit on it for their grandchildren," Suntrip said of the representatives from her county.
IN LIMBO
Each county will write a new set of bylaws governing how the money can be used. But it's unclear what changes they will make.
Robin Coventry has been executive director of the Taum Sauk Fund for less than a year. Her employment is in limbo. She has been a full-time employee, paid $64,000 a year plus health benefits.
She said there was no doubt the money was meant to help people now and should not be preserved just to accrue interest.
"That's not what the money was given for," she said. "It was given to help the region."
Not surprisingly, the board's dispute made its way to Jefferson City.
State Rep. Paul Fitzwater, R-Potosi, came to the Feb. 17 board meeting and relayed a message from Attorney General Chris Koster's office that the board was ineffective and needed to part ways. On Friday, Koster's office said that was merely a legal option, not a recommendation.
In a closed session, the board voted to dissolve. What that will mean for residents who make their living off tourism is yet to be seen.
Craig Claney, who owns Big Creek RV Park north of Annapolis in Iron County, questioned whether splitting the money and the board would benefit the region as a whole. He said that he earned a living from the entire region, and tourists didn't see county lines.
"This money was set to get tourism going," he said. "How is splitting it going to do that?"