Merry Christmas to all our wonderful citizens. You are the ones that have made Ozark such a great place to live. Your volunteerism, smart children and community spirit have truly put Ozark on the map. And the best is yet to come.
I have been your Mayor for a little over two and a half years and have learned something in that time that I never quite realized in the many terms I served as an Alderman. We have a world class staff of administrators, department heads and staff. They cause our city to run smoothly, efficiently and within our means. Those are big accomplishments for any city but especially for one of only 20,000 residents.
It is difficult to put a Christmas bow on two new water towers, new street overlays, much needed neighborhood storm water projects, many new sidewalks and trails, and sewer line extensions and improvements, but they were all completed this year. Lots more of the same are planned for the coming years.
A big THANK YOU goes out to all of you for your foresight in passing our 3/8 cent dedicated transportation sales tax in April. Even though we weren't able to start collecting it until this October, a lot of planning has been taking place for our first three large projects. In the summer of 2018 we will see the South Street 5 lane roadway expansion and intersection improvement projects begin. Other projects currently in the planning and design stages are a new Riverside Bridge and the 5 lane expansion and intersection improvement on Jackson Street and NN Highway. These should be well underway or completed by the end of 2019.
Another exciting development for Ozark this year has been the partnership with Christian County, Nixa, and other county municipalities and businesses in the formation of the Christian County Business Development Corporation. The primary mission of this organization will be job creation and business and industrial attraction and retention. It should be fully operational by early 2018.
So, as you can see, there are a lot of exciting things happening in Ozark. 2017 has been an banner year with the prospects of future years being even better.
Rick Gardner
Mayor
