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. |
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Rabies Vaccination Clinics
The annual rabies vaccination clinics are back this spring. Did you know all dogs and cats over 3-months-of-age are required to be vaccinated against rabies and registered with the city? You can have your furry friend registered and vaccinated at any one of our clinics with the option to microchip. When attending these clinics, pets must be under adult supervision with dogs leashed and cats in a carrier. For more information, please call 271-4877.
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Corby Pond Restoration Project
Corby pond has had a problem over the years with silt and not having fresh water coming into the pond. The average depth of the pond is currently about 3’ deep and most of the stormwater is routed into the big 100-year-old storm pipe running under the pond, which has made it pretty stagnant. Correcting these two problems should help the pond regain its health.
For this project, first crews will drain the pond, remove trash and other debris and then dredge the pond to about 10’ deep. Care will be exercised to ensure the old storm sewer below the pond is untouched. The second task is to turn the pond into a detention area. The plans are to take all the existing stormwater pipes that run into the big sewer under Corby and run them directly into the pond itself, so the pond gets a fresh supply of water when it rains.
Then there will be a modular block wall with some embankment placed along the south and west side of the pond for aesthetics and to help retain higher water levels during storms. There will also be two storm inlets placed at the south end of the pond to help control the pond elevation during normal flows and storms.
Once the project is done, there should be a better overall look for the area as well as a better environment for the fish in the pond and the people who visit.
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Plan Ahead to Age in Place
So many of us are doing our best to find the time to do everything on our schedules that we don’t take enough time to plan for the future. Since our future is just as important as our present, we must plan ahead for what life may be like at retirement age. To get started, consider what you want your life to look like in 10, 20 or even 50 years from now.
With people living longer and the cost of professional care in assisted living and nursing home facilities on the rise, you can do yourself a favor to make your plan to continue to live independently. Beyond making financial and economic plans, as early as possible in your working life, it’s also important to care for our bodies so we can continue to enjoy good health and quality of life.
Aging changes eyesight, muscle mass and strength, physical and mental endurance, hearing, mobility, agility, flexibility, balance, and increases risk of accidents due to bone fragility. Proper nutrition and exercise are important to maintaining good physical fitness and helping everyone stay at home longer. These two factors can help to diminish some of the effects of aging. During May and June, the Joyce Raye Patterson 50+ Activity Center (JRP) is partnering with the University of Missouri Extension and the Missouri Regional Arthritis Centers to provide two programs to help people work toward aging in place.
Stay Strong, Stay Healthy is a physical fitness program which provides pre- and post-assessments to measure progress, warm-up and cool down exercises, stretching, and low impact exercises to improve strength, flexibility and balance. This class will meet from 10-11am on Tuesdays and Thursdays from May 4 through June 24 at the JRP. Typically $50 a person, this class is being offered for free through grant funding. It’s a great savings and a wonderful way to begin and continue the path toward better fitness. For more information, contact the Andrew County Extension Office at 324-3147.
Power Over Pain: Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Pain, will be offered at the JRP every Wednesday from 9-11am beginning May 19 through June 23. This six-week program will cover topics to help people learn techniques to deal with problems caused by pain such as frustration, fatigue, isolation and poor sleep. It will teach and practice the Moving Easy Program: appropriate exercises for maintaining and improving strength, flexibility, and endurance. It will also focus on the appropriate use of medications, how to effectively communicate with family, friends and health professionals, nutrition, pacing activity and rest, and how to evaluate new treatments. This class is free and each participant receives a free reference book and a guided relaxation cd. Instructors are Gina Lucas from the University of Missouri Extension and Vickie Kempf from Arthritis Community Services. For more information, please contact Gina Lucas at lucasg@missouri.edu or 324-3147.
Register at the JRP to attend one of both sessions to help you begin your path toward aging in place.
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Close Before You Doze
Closing your bedroom door at night can save your life. A fire in your home will spread faster than you think. The use of plastics and other synthetics have allowed home fires to spread at alarming rates. Lightweight building materials in newer homes are much different than homes from 50 years ago. Plastic and other synthetic furnishings have made all homes more vulnerable to fire spread. These materials give off deadly smoke and poisonous gases. According to Underwriters Laboratory, a person used to have nearly 17 minutes to escape a house fire. That escape time is now about three minutes.
The Close Before You Doze program teaches the public to close the bedroom door and provide life-saving protection from heat, flames and poisonous gases. Tests have shown that a closed room can remain at a survivable 100 degrees, compared to 1,000 degrees in the hallway. Poisonous carbon monoxide levels easily spread to unprotected rooms. By closing the door, it gives the occupant time to call 911 or escape if possible. Research shows that nearly half of all residential fire deaths occur during the sleeping hours of 11pm-7am.
There are simple things a family can do to stay protected in case of a fire. Keep working smoke detectors in your home and test them monthly. Also avoid using candles or space heaters while sleeping. Most importantly, close your bedroom door. For more information, visit closeyourdoor.org.
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Mayor's Prayer Breakfast
The National Day of Prayer marks a time of coming together for support, encouragement and prayer within our community. Please join Mayor Bill McMurray at the Civic Arena on Thursday, May 6, for the annual Mayor's Prayer Breakfast. This year's guest speaker is William J. Federer, a nationally known speaker, best-selling author and president of Amerisearch, Inc., a publishing company dedicated to researching America’s noble heritage. This event is free for all to attend. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit stjoendp.com.
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