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Volume XIX | June 2018

June 2018 News & Updates

As you settle into the rhythm of summertime, we hope that you’re taking time to enjoy the wonderful outdoor activities the area has to offer! Summer brings you a variety of green, fun, and free/affordable activities to do. We hope you will join some of them, and that you’ll let us know about other events not on our list. As you embark on your adventures, tweet us @ OzarkMO we would love to see all the fun you are having.

June edition includes....

Adopt A Class 2018
Upcoming Road Projects update
Welcome new officer to Ozark PD
New water tower helps prepare Ozark for growth

Plus a letter from your Ward III Alderman, Heather Alder, and a list of all the upcoming events for the summer in Ozark.

You can always find more information on our website at ozarkmissouri.com and connect with us on our social media pages, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Nextdoor

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A note from Alderman Alder, Ward III

I am Heather Alder, owner and operator of Heather Hill Farms, a wine and cheese store behind Lambert’s. I serve as Ozark’s Ward 3 Alderman on the Ozark City Council.

My experience on the City Council has caused me to realize how complicated and challenging the operation of a city can be. The city’s leadership not only has to deal with the past problems and present needs of its citizens, but also with anticipating Ozark’s future needs. The decisions and actions they make are essential to keeping the city growing and expanding in a positive vein. Working together we hope to achieve a safe and secure place to live; a city that we can proudly call our own.

I have been impressed with the responsiveness of our city leaders, department heads and staff. They listen and work hard to try to solve the city’s problems and meet the present and future needs of its citizens. They are knowledgeable, professional and have the best interest of the City of Ozark at heart.

This is a exciting time for the city of Ozark with promise and possibilities of new restaurants, shops, businesses and the restoration of the Mill, a unique venue only to Ozark. Improvements are taking place with our roads, intersections and sidewalks. Our police department has just been certified, which is an honor that took hard work to achieve. Anchoring it all is the city’s strong school system that continues to draw families to our area.

It is a great time and place to be in, one that makes me proud and happy to be representing the people of Ward 3 and the City of Ozark.

Heather Alder

Telephone: 417-581-7665

Public Works Department Update

Adopt a Class 2018

On May 18 ^th 2018 the City of Ozark along with Ozark Schools celebrated our 6 ^th annual Adopt –A-Class/ Arbor Day/ Tree City USA event. This event is not open to the general public. We have been hosting this event since the spring of 2013. This is an educational event in which the students can experience many different programs including Stream Team, birds, reptiles and nature. This year we divided the students up into 5 different groups which switched every 30 minutes. The Stream Team was divided into 4 separate groups. At the beginning of each 30 minute session Carl Romesburg would talk about invertebrates and the waters they live in for about 10-15 minutes before the students separated into 4 different groups to experience getting in the water and netting invertebrates to identify the bugs.

The other groups were furs and skulls by the Missouri Master Naturalists, Woods Fork Outdoors Taxidermy, Predatory Birds and Reptiles in 2 different areas by the Dickerson Park Zoo and the Department of Conservation along with the City of Ozark’s horticulturist conducted leaf identification with the students. This year the students took home 200 hazelnut seedlings.

At the beginning of the event Rick Gardner (Ozark’s Mayor) read the Arbor Day Proclamation, and then the City was presented with a Tree City USA Award from Cindy Garner with the Missouri Department of Conservation.

Another Milestone Completed, Ozark is prepared for Continued Growth

You can view time lapse view of the raising of the water tower HERE

Planning efforts began back in 2012 to help identify the future water needs for the City of Ozark

Initially the focus was placed on providing additional water supply to the northern sections of Ozark and in 2015 a 1M gallon elevated storage tank was constructed on Fremont Road.

Focus then began to shift to Southern Ozark. Prior to the Ozark Water System Facility Master Plan being implemented, Ozark’s Southern Water Pressure Plane* had 450,000 gallons of elevated water storage and 500,000 gallons of ground storage.

In 2016-2017 Public Works Crews worked with contractors to demolish the existing aging tower and ground storage facilities located on E. Waverly Street and replaced them with a 1M gallon elevated storage tank.

On May the 29th, crews completed the construction of the 17th Street Elevated Storage Tank and Ozark’s Southern Pressure Plane* now has an additional 750,000 gallons of water supply.

What does that mean for you?

A more abundant water supply
Increased fire flows and fire protection
More redundancy in the total water system
In certain areas, increased water pressures

Crews will continue to make upgrades to our Municipal Water System in order to adequately serve the current and future residents of Ozark. Our focus will now shift to constructing large water main improvements and preparing for continued sustainable growth.

*Pressure planes are isolated areas of the water delivery system that maintain a specific range of water pressures. These planes are established to ensure there is enough pressure to supply water to individual connections and also used as a water storage facility for emergency situations. These pressure planes are generally identified by the elevation of the area, so that adequate water pressure can be supplied to all areas. Higher locations in the City would be served by water storage tanks located at a higher elevation than those areas in the City with lower elevations.

3/8 cent Transportation Sales Tax Projects Update

When the citizens of Ozark voted to approve our first ever Transportation Sales Tax in April 2017, it was a clear message to city leaders that they wanted to see impactful transportation improvements. The City is dedicated to delivering these projects to our citizens, and has already completed many projects as promised primarily in the area of local streets and sidewalk improvements. The City staff has also been working on the big “Cost-Share” projects with MODot, Christian County, and the Ozark Special Road District as well, completing the design and engineering phases of these projects. Many more projects are scheduled to be started and/or completed over the next 5-years and you can access these construction schedules on the City’s website or Facebook page, click HERE to see a timeline of projects.

The City of Ozark is dedicated to fulfilling our transportation commitments to you in order to improve safety, expand economic development opportunities, and improve our community’s quality of life overall. So If you live in a neighborhood where a project has been completed, or is going to be completed, and have questions you can always call the Ozark City Hall or go on line for Public Works updates.

Ozark Police Department Update

Congratulations Captain Arnold

Captain Justin Arnold graduated from the 8th Class of the Missouri Police Chiefs Command College on May 25, 2018. Captain Arnold’s class was comprised of 24 representatives from 19 different law enforcement agencies located across the State of Missouri. The leadership program required the participants to convene one week each month between November 2017 and May 2018, lasting a total of seven-months. The Command College curriculum is designed to provide valuable leadership, management, and supervisory training for current and future law enforcement supervisors, commanders, chiefs and sheriffs.

Congratulations Captain Arnold!!

Welcome to Ozark, Officer Findley

Please help us congratulate the newest member of our team, Logan Findley. Officer Findley graduated from Drury’s Law Enforcement Academy today and he will begin his new career with the Ozark Police Department on Monday.

Congratulations Officer Findley!!