At its Monday meeting, the Ozark Board of Aldermen heard the first reading of a bill that could help fund connections on the Finley River Trail system.
Ozark Public Works Director Jeremey Parsons said the “goal is to get people to the downtown,” to develop “nodes of activity from every which way to add some vibrancy and get some more foot traffic.”
Parsons presented the potential bill to Ozark’s Aldermen. It would help fund bike and pedestrian trail connections in downtown Ozark: under Jackson St. from the Finley River to 9th Street and from Jackson Street to Finley Farms.
It would allow the city to enter into an agreement with the State of Missouri and utilize $193,648 dollars of grant money from the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants Program, an Inflation Reduction Act program.
The city would put forth $48,421 dollars.
The proposal will get a second reading and final vote at the next Ozark Aldermen meeting.
Parsons said the city is working on funding gaps and connections in the city’s trail systems. Ozark’s Finley River Trail connects with the Chadwick Flyer Trail system, a multiphase ongoing project connecting the Springfield and Ozark metro areas with bike and pedestrian trails.
The City of Ozark is also 50 acres bigger after its Monday Board of Aldermen meeting.
The board voted to approve annexing an undeveloped property near the corner of West Garton Road and Highway 65, They also rezoned it as general commercial. No plans for development were shared at the meeting.
The Ozark Board of Aldermen also approved a one-year agreement with the Ozark Chamber of Commerce to manage community-wide events.
At an annual cost of $25,000, the city will pay the chamber of commerce to plan, organize and hold annual events: the State of the Community, the Business Expo and the Christmas Parade, as well as monthly events: the Good Afternoon Ozark lunch and First Friday Coffee. Per the agreement, the chamber will attend aldermen meetings and provide an update at the second aldermen meeting each month, and the city administrator will have a seat on the chamber’s board.
The next regular meeting of the Ozark Board of Aldermen will be Monday, March 18.