Welcome to the city of St Joseph's weekly digital newsletter. City Link is your source for timely and relevant information from your local government.
Thursday, September 2, 2021
Splash Park Hours

As the sun begins to set earlier in the evenings, the hours at the Liberty Oak Splash Park at Hyde Park have changed. The splash park will now be open from 10am-7pm daily. Admission is free. The new water feature was approved by voters in August 2018, as a project in the Capital Improvements Program (CIP) half-cent sales tax.
Rosecrans Treatment Plant

The project to complete the upgrade of the Rosecrans lagoon system to a membrane bioreactor (MBR) activated sludge plant was recently completed. MBR systems utilize bacteria and membranes to eliminate waste and produce a clean effluent. This type of system is especially well suited for treatment of diluted wastewater from rain event infiltration, which is something the Rosecrans system experiences on a frequent basis. The two lagoon ponds have been converted to equalization basins, which will hold untreated wastewater during rain events until it can be processed through the new MBR treatment plant.

One of the things driving the need to upgrade the lagoon system was new nutrient limits for lake discharge from the Missouri Department of National Resources. New limits for nitrogen and phosphorus would have prevented the water protection division from discharging treated wastewater to Browning Lake, as the old lagoon system could not meet the new limits. Water Protection staff had been hauling lagoon water to the main treatment plant while the new MBR plant was being built at Rosecrans. The new MBR treatment plant, combined with the equalization basins, allow Water Protection to meet new permit limits and discharge quality effluent water to Browning Lake. 
Upgrades to Joyce Raye Patterson 50+ Activity Center

The Joyce Raye Patterson 50+ Activity Center (JRP) is excited about the opening of the new circuit training room. This new amenity was made possible through a donation from Midland Empire Resources for Independent Living (MERIL). Through this thoughtful donation, fitness center members will now have access to twelve new pieces of exercise equipment. The circuit training room will provide members an opportunity to complete a full body workout in 30 minutes using equipment which provides resistance using hydraulics instead of stacked weights. This is accomplished by listening to music which includes prompts telling those working out when to start, stop, and move to the next piece of equipment.
 
To prepare the room, parks maintenance staff moved shelves from the intended circuit training room to the computer room. JRP staff painted the room, replaced carpet, installed new floor surround and mirrors. The JRP maintenance technician Sheldon Pearce and volunteer Bill Blacketer installed the trim. Equipment was relocated from the MERIL complex to the JRP with the assistance of MERIL and JRP staff. It truly took a village to make this a wonderful new addition at the facility. Two pieces of equipment are currently being repaired and once this happens, a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new room will take place.
 
In response to COVID-19, a developing concern was the air quality in the fitness center. To address this concern, the Senior Citizen’s Foundation, Inc. installed a dehumidifier and two ionization units onto the fitness center HVAC unit. This is beginning to make a difference in the air quality of the fitness center and helps members feel more comfortable using this facility.
 
Three new pieces of fitness center equipment have been installed: a leg press, adductor/abductor, and a recumbent bicycle. Before the addition, the fitness center only had two pieces of equipment specifically for working out the lower body. This addition of weight stack equipment improves opportunities for getting a more well-rounded workout. The recumbent bike is very popular and provides for less wait time.
 
This summer, youth volunteers from Brookdale Presbyterian Church relocated the books and volunteer Felicia Safer relocated the DVDs from the craft room to the shelves in the computer room. This change creates a quiet, cozy room for research and reading.
 
The new circuit training room, fitness center air quality, equipment, and the moving of the library are all important steps in slowly updating the JRP and its amenities. Staff is so grateful for the donations and the volunteer efforts to help make these improvements possible.
Focus on Mental Health

As employees deal with more pressure than ever before from navigating a global health crisis, juggling caregiving with work and navigating a more virtual work environment, the conversation around mental health has entered the foreground. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 40% of adults in the United States have reported experiencing mental health problems since the pandemic began. 

As a result, employers must commit to giving workers the mental health resources they need such as access to affordable care along with understanding and empathy from management. We need to create a culture of check-ins and a place where managers are demonstrating and modeling healthy behavior themselves. 

Several employers have wellness initiatives including Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) which offer mental health services, most free of charge to employees. Reach out to your Human Resources department for more information on all programs they offer to employees.
Labor Day

In observance of Labor Day, Monday, September 6, city buses will not be in service and city offices will be closed with the exception of: 
  • Remington Nature Center - open 10am-5pm
(816) 271-5300