Progress being made in Scott City

Wow. Twelve years have flown by like a blur. It seems like yesterday I was running for city council. Then, after only one year as councilman, I ran for mayor of this great town of Scott City.

The town has operated in the black through these tough economic times. Thanks to our wonderful staff and boards, we have been able to add to our reserve funds each year. Our city administrator, Ron Eskew, and all the department heads have been able to continue full services to our citizens and still stay within their budgets. I commend them for their efforts.

We have two new councilmen after the last election. We welcome Ron Cummins and Randy Morse to the city council. I would like to personally thank outgoing councilmen Robert Tyler and Jordan Heisserer for their dedicated service to our town.

Last year the voters extended the capital improvement sales tax, which has allowed us to improve our town's facilities. We purchased the Caboose parking lot, the new City Hall location, remodeled the courtroom, fire station and police station. We also added a sally port at our police station to better accommodate prisoner processing.

A new (used) rescue truck has been purchased, which will allow us to continue to offer emergency rescue and medical assists. We also received a grant for the purchase of a used recycling truck. With this truck, our recycling operation should run more efficiently.

We are also very excited to welcome a couple of new businesses in town. WM Nobbe, a John Deere dealership, has a new facility here. Also, Bootheel Harley-Davidson has recently taken over ownership of Minor's Harley-Davidson. We welcome and commend them for their involvement in many of our civic functions.

Our Scott City Area Chamber of Commerce is alive and well. The chamber recently pledged a $1,000 donation to a summer day camp that will be this summer in the city park. It is an event sponsored by SCIPP (Scott City Interactive Park Program).

We will also be offering the Donnie Roth Scholarship for a Scott City High School graduate again this year.

I am also happy to announce we will be a golf tournament May 9 at Bent Creek Golf Course. For information about the tournament, contact Matt Porch at 573-579-9503.

The park is busy this summer with its normal activities along with a pool maintenance project, the planning of an amphitheater and future ballpark renovations.

We currently have our NE Ramsey Creek Bridge and road under construction. This will provide an alternate route into town and give us a better connection to our industrial park for emergency vehicles. The route will eliminate going onto the interstate to access the northern part of our city. We are also working diligently to achieve a southern interstate exchange, which will relieve the traffic congestion at our present interchange.

The future looks bright in our little town. Thanks for the continued support and allowing me to serve as your mayor.

Tim Porch is the mayor of Scott City.