Osage Beach TIF Commission backs amendment to consolidate Arrowhead project areas, keeps $55 million cap

The TIF Commission for the City of Osage Beach voted to recommend a 2025 amendment to the Arrowhead Redevelopment Plan that consolidates RPAs 2 through 8 into a single redevelopment project area and leaves the total TIF assistance at about $55 million. The action came at a public hearing and vote at a commission meeting; no members of the public testified in person or in writing.

Mark Spykerman, the city representative presenting the amendment, said the change is intended to provide administrative ease and greater flexibility in where previously listed project activities may be implemented. "There is no change to the total amount of TIF assistance available," Spykerman said during the hearing.

The amendment would merge the seven separate RPAs that were activated collectively by recent Board of Aldermen action into one consolidated area so the city can administer a single RPA instead of multiple phased RPAs. Spykerman told commissioners that the original Arrowhead Redevelopment Plan was approved by the Board of Aldermen on July 16, 2015, and that RPA 1 was activated in February 2016; RPA 1’s TIF period runs 23 years from its activation. The Board of Aldermen approved activation of the remaining RPAs on July 2, 2025, which started the 23-year TIF clock on those areas.

Bill Moore, an attorney representing the applicant, said the applicant supports the proposed amendment and expects to negotiate an amended and restated redevelopment agreement with the city. "We are in full support of the changes that are being suggested," Moore said.

Gary Mitchell, president of Arrowhead Development Group and the applicant, outlined near-term development intentions he said the amendment would help enable. Mitchell said independent senior-living cottages are planned and that developers intend to break ground on two duplexes under a rental program in 2026. He also described a proposed major family entertainment center in District 4, which he characterized as a roughly $40,000,000 facility targeting a 2027 opening.

Spykerman noted that the amendment does not alter the types of eligible redevelopment activities listed in the plan — including senior living, restaurants, office, hotel and family entertainment — nor does it change the total financing previously allocated across the plan (about $4.1 million noted for RPA 1 and roughly $50 million previously divided among the other RPAs). He said the amendment would let the activities described for specific RPAs be implemented anywhere within the consolidated area, consistent with the plan’s original intent.

Commission discussion also recorded that the Board of Aldermen signaled an expectation that the redevelopment agreement include specific milestones and deadlines for development work so the city does not revisit the same delays in future years. Spykerman emphasized that neither the redevelopment plan nor the redevelopment agreement replaces or bypasses the city’s planning and zoning processes; those remain subject to the normal city procedures.

The commission moved to approve the resolution recommending that the Board of Aldermen adopt an ordinance approving the 2025 amendment. The motion to approve the amendment as written passed on a roll-call vote with the following recorded as voting yes: Dave Crane; Timothy Gardner; Fred Catcotte; Alderman Justin Hoffman (chair); Chief Paul Verardi; Brett Thompson; and Brian Butts. The commission also noted there was no written testimony filed and no members of the public offered oral testimony at the hearing.

Next steps: if the Board of Aldermen adopts an ordinance in the form required by the state TIF statute, the city and the applicant expect to amend and restate the existing redevelopment agreement (the contract that implements how TIF assistance is delivered) to reflect the amended plan and to include the milestones the board requested. Planning and zoning approvals for any specific projects would follow the city’s standard land-use process.