St. Robert, Missouri Community Profile

St. Robert is known as the “business hub” of Pulaski County.  The city is relatively young but it has achieved more than most cities since its birth, living up to its motto “Grow With Us.”  St. Robert business district continues to grow and is the home of many national chain stores, hotels and restaurants in addition to many specialty small businesses.  The City owns and operates all of its utilities, including natural gas and runs a model solid waster transfer station.  St. Robert has recently constructed a new city hall and police complex.  Come see what we mean when we say, “Grow With Us”.

      Population Growth: The City of St. Robert has experienced rapid growth, which has primarily occurred in the last five years.  The population has increased from 1,730 (1990 Census) to an official population of 2,760 (2000 Census), an increase of over 59%. We project that this population trend will continue for the next 5-10 years.  The City serves a far greater population base which includes:  Fort Leonard Wood  (Population=28,937) and Waynesville (Population=3,507) In addition, to the city’s population increase, there has been a corresponding increase in commercial construction as St. Robert is becoming the commercial and retail hub of our region.   

     Commercial and Retail Sales Growth.  The economy in St. Robert is booming.  One key indicator of the strong economy is the sharp increase in retail sales within the city limits.  In 2002,  city retail sales exceeded $130 Million up from $103 Million in 2001(an increase of 26%).  Total sales revenue remained stable from 1992 to 1997, running between $60 and $67 Million, with a sharp increase (52%) from 1997 to 2002. The growth in retail sales is largely due to the increase in commercial businesses in the North-town village area of the City. Based on our sales tax figures, the City business and economy was not negatively influenced by the events of 9-11, in fact the growth in our area seems to have increased.

     Tourist Location.   St. Robert has a tourist industry with families and friends attending Fort Leonard Wood Soldier graduation ceremonies, conferences and other special events.  Currently over 55,000 soldiers train annually on the military post. Fort Leonard Wood has been a relatively stable “tourist” base that has led to the construction of several hotels and motels in our area. We currently have 14 motel/hotels in the area with over 1,000 rooms with two more (Motel 6 and Baymont Inn) under construction to meet the increasing demand for hotel rooms. We anticipate that this source of “tourists” will remain stable and even increase into the future.  As the families visit our area, they need activities to keep them busy—to include shopping and entertainment opportunities.

     Transportation.  St. Robert is bisected by Interstate 44 and provides access to the main gate of Fort Leonard Wood.  Our location on I-44, gives us the ability to “capture additional tourist traffic that are on their way or returning from a tourist site—such as Branson or St. Louis. The City is located at a good location roughly midway for traffic traveling to and from Branson or St. Louis and is becoming known as a stop over destination for meals and lodging when traveling on I-44.   Nearby, Fort Leonard Wood hosts one of the best regional airports in the State.  The Fort Leonard Wood regional airport has full ILS support and is one of the best regional airports in the state.  

     Education:  St. Robert is in the Waynesville R-6 School District which consistently ranks among the top school districts in the state.  The District is currently constructing a new state of the art High School and has hosts a Technical Academy which serves the entire county with a 

wide range of technical and skill oriented courses.

Public Schools:  Classification—Accredited with distinction in Performance

Vocational Schools: Waynesville Technical Academy — 34 teachers

Universities and Colleges:  Drury University, Columbia College,

 Central Texas College, Park University and Lincoln University.

Health Services:                        Mercy Medical Clinic

Utilities:   The City supplies full utility services including electric, water, sewer and natural gas. Rates are very competitive as compared to other supplies in the region.

Type of Treatment: Activated Sludge with Ultraviolet light

Electricity:                                  Supplied by St. Robert Municipal Utilities         

Other Suppliers:                            County—Laclede Electric Coop

     Recreation & Community Facilities.  Residents county-wide come to St. Robert to make use of its Community Center which offers a large seating capacity facility for a wide variety of events.  The Community Center is complete with kitchen and next to the City Park, complete with softball fields and picnic areas.  The Community Center grounds have also hosted rodeos, tractor pulls, carnivals and many other special events.  For the outdoor enthusiasts, St. Robert is near beautiful fishing streams, canoe rentals, and plenty of water fun as the Lake of the Ozarks, state trout parks, and the Ozark Scenic River-ways are just a short drive away.  Park and recreational outlets are in close proximity with city and state parks. St. Robert and Pulaski County can offer residents and enviable hometown lifestyle and convenient access to the cultural, social and recreational benefits of larger metropolitan area.

     Future Development.  The City continues to plan for the future growth and development of the area.  The City’s Comprehensive plan is based on the premise that positive economic factors, which have 

contributed to St. Robert’s steady expansion, will continue to influence growth.  Above and beyond the City’s location, these factors included convenient and quality lifestyle for residential growth, a thriving business environment for commercial opportunity, available land and an effective labor force for local businesses. 

Basic Property Tax Levy: .3490 per $100. Accessed Valuation

Government

Form of Government:                Council/Mayor Administration

Comprehensive City Plan:                     Yes

Building Codes:                                    Yes

Planning and Zoning:                             Yes

City Engineer Employed:                       Yes

Communications

Telephone Service Companies: Fidelity & Sprint

Newspaper:                                          

Daily Guide (Daily) & Guidon          (Weekly)

Pulaski County Democrat               (Weekly)

Number of Radio Stations:                  3

Cable Television Service                 Yes

Fort Leonard Wood Community Profile

     Fort Leonard Wood is home to the U.S. Army MANSCEN or Maneuver Support Center, which hosts the Army Engineer, Military Police and Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Schools.  Fort Leonard Wood is a state of the art training facility on 100 square miles of rugged Ozark wilderness.  Fort Leonard Wood trains over 55,000 military and civilian people each year.  Throughout its growth, Fort Leonard Wood’s soldiers and their family members have enjoyed an outstanding quality of life, A new multi-million Davidson Fitness Center, state of the art Child Development Center, superb hospital and many other key facilities and amenities, help maintain a outstanding quality of life for the residents of the Fort Leonard Wood.

     MANSCEN Center.  Fort Leonard Wood, originally the home of the Army engineers has been expanded with the addition of the Military Police and Chemical schools to form the Maneuver Support Center (MANSCEN).  MANSCEN develops concepts, doctrine, force structure, material requirements and experiments to ensure the vitality of the chemical, engineer and military police organizations

Fort Leonard Wood Population Profile.  

Post Population:  

(As of November 30, 2002)

            Retiree Population Served by Fort Leonard Wood:

     Growth Potential. Fort Leonard Wood as one of the premier military bases in the country, has excellent growth potential to attract additional military and homeland security missions.  Fort Leonard Wood has also been designated as a center for homeland security excellence.  The post is also well positioned to take advantage of future BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) moves and to attract additional Department of the Army and Department of Defense missions to the base.

     Joint Service Post.  Not only does Fort Leonard Wood train Army soldiers, it trains all branches of our Nation’s military to include: Navy, Marines and the Air Force.   Fort Leonard Wood  is home to the largest Marine detachment not stationed on a Marine base.  It also trains Navy and Air force soldiers and provides training to the civilian law enforcement community.

    Science and Technology Industrial Park.  One new concept featuring a partnership

 between the military and the University of Missouri system is the new Science and Technology Industrial park located on the Fort Leonard Wood military installation.