The Enhanced Enterprise Zone meeting Wednesday night at the Multi-purpose Room of the Phelps County Courthouse offered interesting facts from both sides — those concerned about the effects of an EEZ and those trying to inform.

For months, concerned residents have wanted action from Rolla officials, as they sought leadership to bring more jobs to Rolla. For many, those hopes have turned to pleas, especially of those workers now displaced since the closing of Briggs & Stratton.

Of the 88 people who attended the EEZ meeting, many are homeowners in the EEZ, inquiring about the effect such an expansive Enterprise Zone would have on their homes and their livelihoods. They are  concerned and should have been there. I would have been there, too, representing myself had I lived in the proposed EEZ.

Some were calm as they posed questions. Others were not, and still others had less than polite words for the speakers — Presiding County Commissioner Randy Verkamp, MRPC Representative Bonnie Prigge and Rolla Regional Economic Commission Executive Director Elizabeth Bax.

There may be many questions concerning the EEZ, but what I know for sure is these folks are trying to improve the lives of people in our county, bring in more jobs and keep Rolla a regional hub of economics and industry. And, an EEZ will assist in this, level the playing field with those other communities that want to become the next Rolla, which continually draws from a six-county area and beyond.

Certainly, times are tough. And no one knows what the future will bring. Similarly, no one knows their economic future.
There are no guarantees.

• Folks attending the meeting, wanted assurances their taxes would not increase.

• They wanted to know eminent domain would not be used to gobble up their properties.

• They wanted to know why the zone covered such a HUGE area, boundaries all the way up to the Maries County line.
All excellent questions.
So, the queries that may have gone unanswered Wednesday, were discussed Friday morning during the Rolla Regional Economic Commission meeting in City Hall.

Here’s what we know:
• There is no guarantee taxes will not increase because of development that may occur as a result of the EEZ.

• While the EEZ does not endorse the use of eminent domain, there is no guarantee this tactic recognized for economic development by the U.S. Supreme Court on June 23, 2005, could not be employed. As long as there are lawyers, there are appeals. “I don’t think we can guarantee that eminent domain would not be used,” RREC President Randall Johnson said Friday morning as the board discussed EEZ. And, he’s right. There are no absolutes.
There NEVER are.

• The third most common query sought answers about the vastness of the of the EEZ. Yes, it’s massive. It was done this way to show unity between the cities of Rolla and St. James. The cities share boundaries, and from what I’m hearing, it was done merely to show unity between the two communities, much like the way both towns pulled together to secure the finish of Stage Four and the start of Stage Five for the Tour of Missouri cycling race.

What a success that has been!
So, while there are no guarantees, no assurances, there are chances for shared growth, and the EEZ will make us better to compete with the Springfields, Columbias and the Jeff Cities.

Something else to keep in mind: If the EEZ is not endorsed, what if Sullivan to the east or Waynesville to the west does? Is there anything to keep any of those businesses located in Rolla, at HyPoint Industrial Park or anywhere else in town from moving there for incentives for expansion that we could have offered them here through our own EEZ?
I think not.

Certainly, neighboring cities compete every day for businesses. We need to keep that in mind or we may just be asking ourselves next year why didn’t the city or county governments do something to keep our businesses here.

(Alan Lewis Gerstenecker is editor of the Rolla Daily News.)