(This is from our new intern, Lee Logan, who’s run into one of those eternal “technical problems” that prevented him from posting this himself. )

The Missouri Senate took the first step Wednesday toward repealing a controversial “village law,” with a hearing before the Economic Development, Tourism and Local Government Committee.

“I won’t re-hash anything,” said Sen. Jack Goodman, R-Mt. Vernon.  “Most everyone is familiar with one of the provisions that was inserted into
the bill last year.”

In case you aren’t, here’s the background:

Last session, House Speaker Rod Jetton, R-Marble Hill, inserted a  provision into a thick Senate bill that allows any landowner to incorporate his or her land into a village — no matter the size of the parcel or how many people live there.

Uproar ensued.  County commissioners — and a good portion of Jetton’s Republican Caucus — cried foul about the law and the way it was muscled through.

Fast forward to this year. Legislators have filed four bills, including Goodman’s SB765, that seek to repeal the village law and dissolve any
village born under the law’s provisions.

Robert Plaster, a landowner in southwest Missouri’s Stone County, has
filed a petition to incorporate the Village of Table Rock.

Jetton’s critics point out that Plaster filed his petition on Aug. 28, the day
the law took effect. They also point out that the two are hunting buddies.

During Wednesday’s hearing, committee chairman John Griesheimer,
R-Washington, mentioned another landowner in Franklin County who has
petitioned to form a village.

“Sen. Goodman has a newfound friend and partner on this issue,” he said.
“We intend to move this bill as quickly as we possibly can.”

Griesheimer said the committee would pass the bill at its next scheduled
meeting.

The hearing featured one lone speaker:  Dave Coonrod, Greene County’s
presiding commissioner. “This provision is poor public policy,” he said. “It’s another attempt to pre-empt our local authority.”

Coonrod said that Springfield depends on several unincorporated areas in
the country for water, and that a landowner, under the village law,
could disrupt the city’s water supply.

Griesheimer called twice for other speakers, but the mildly amused crowd
produced no one.

“Unbelievable,” Griesheimer said. “I would have never guessed that only
one witness would speak.”