 The event at the Airport this past weekend was a huge success - volunteers were able to give almost 100 children a free ride in an airplane and people of all ages were able to enjoy a hot air balloon glow and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 after that. The event was a perfect example of what makes Lebanon a great place to live and I hope we're able to offer similar events in the future.
Next week Doug Thomas of SGR will be in Lebanon as he begins our City Administrator recruitment. I'm looking forward to having him in town and being able to pick his brain on a variety of issues.
I hope everyone has a great Columbus Day holiday!
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Pictures from Saturday's event. The top image is of some young children being led out to a plane for what is likely their first flight ever. Bottom left is a hangar with some cool older planes. Bottom right is of the hot air balloon glow.
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City Clerk
The Agenda Center on our website is now live and will be the source for council agendas and minutes going forward. Just click on the date to open that agenda. Agenda items can be viewed and downloaded by item.
http://www.lebanonmissouri.org/agendacenter
Community Development
The Community Development department is working hard on the new Energov permitting system. They have had numerous conference calls with Jake Olivola, a Tyler Technologies technician who works out of Atlanta. Jake has been a major asset on this project.
Noel would like to say thanks to the IT Department for all their help in this project . Eric and Brian has helped tremendously on the GIS mapping system which will be incorporated into to Energov system.
Finally, we just received the Dodge Data report that states that the housing industry is up 9% in July across the US. Most of the increase was in multifamily units at 497,000 and single family units were slightly down at 784,000.
Facilities & Operations
The Cowan Civic Center team staff is preparing for upcoming events. Missouri Responsible Pet Breeders “Ag Days” will be Oct. 14 in ex hall. Taylor Avenue Full Gospel event at the Mills Center concludes and another group moves in for their event on Friday and Saturday. FFA Greenhand banquet is on the 10th at Mills . At Wallace we have a wedding reception on the 8th and Rotary on the 12th.
Janitorial staff will be deep cleaning offices while the Community Development department begins its move to the Public Works facility.
Facilities Management staff is still busy mowing ROW, facilities, retention areas, and the roundabout, as the weather has not turned.
The Airport staff is cleaning up from the 50th Anniversary Celebration where 89 kids received airplane rides, 7 hot air balloons lit up the sky, and 250 t-shirts were handed out. As always we will be fueling planes this week!
Human Resources
As you may have heard, Stevie Patterson is leaving us soon- her final day will be October 13th. Her position has been posted and is open until filled. Before she goes, however, she will be a guest on Missouri Employers Mutual's WorkSAFE podcast! We're always proud of our safety record and are happy to be recognized by MEM.
Information Technology
The IT Department is working on several projects right now, including:
- Website – There are a few updates that must be completed and we are incorporating an IT page under the Departments section.
- Sophos – We are working on patches and policy updates.
- Intrusion Detection – We are applying some of the recommended actions outlined by MPUA.
- Energov – Continued testing is required on the server.
- O365 – We are about 30% done with the back-end work for Office 365 deployment.
- Mobile Environment – We are about 80% done with getting Chief Snyder mobile in the fire equipment.
Police Department
This week the police department began conducting its ninth annual Senior Police Academy at the Hughes Senior Citizens Center. This is a 40 hour training course conducted on each Thursday for 5 weeks from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. The class is for people 60 years of age or older and topics presented during the training course are geared for senior citizens. These topics include telemarketing scams, elder abuse and neglect, fraud and identity theft, home fire safety prevention, safe driving, firearms safety, protecting your home against crime, emergency preparedness, among a large number of other topics. Instructors in these training courses are dispatchers, animal control officers, school resource officers, police officers who are certified in the specific field being taught, as well as members of other departments such as the fire department and Office of Emergency Management. This year 35 people signed up for the Senior Academy. At the end of the training a final exam is given to the class consisting of questions from the areas of instruction given over the training period. First, Second, and Third prizes are awarded to the people with the three highest scores. These prizes are all donated by Wal-mart. A Graduation ceremony follows and each student is given a certificate of completion for attending the training. This has been a very popular program since its beginning and gives our senior citizens an opportunity to become familiar with members of the police department and learn a little about what the police department does.
Public Works
Street construction crews will be doing curb work on Catherine Street and continuing work on the Jefferson Street sidewalk project from Hayes to Jefferson. Street maintenance crews, weather permitting, will be doing chip and seal surface treatment on Lake Drive between Elm and Glenridge, Glenridge between Elm and Lake, Orchard between Phillips and Beck, and Tyler between Phillips and Beck. Willard Asphalt is scheduled to overlay Fourth between Jefferson and Washington, Lake between Beck and Glenridge, Van Buren between Fourth and Commercial, and East Fowler between Elm and Rader, totaling 4,800 Linear Feet.
Electric Division crews will vontinue to install automated electric meters and repair street lights. Tree trimmers will be trimming utility easements in the West Madison and South King area.
Environmental Services crews will continue to install automated water meters. Crews will be cleaning and inspecting the sanitary sewer system in the Indian Creek area. Management will be meeting with a consultant to discuss improvements to the Goodwin Hollow Pump Station.
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a look at next week's
city council meeting
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A few items of note from next Tuesday's agenda:
- Chief Schneider is requesting approval of his purchase of SCBA equipment for the Fire Department. This project is mostly funded through a successful grant. He will also be requesting Council approval on some modifications to one of our fire trucks.
- Richard Shockley will be presenting an agreement with MODOT related to South Highway 5 improvements being planned.
- A resolution approving the rental fees for our City facilities for 2019.
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city administrator
news and notes
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As you know, Doug Thomas of SGR will be in town next week to begin interviewing members of senior staff, city council, and community stakeholders as part of the profile creation process for our City Administrator position. I mentioned before that I'm looking forward to chatting with Doug- his last community where he was City Manager was very similar to Lebanon- full service, including electric utility, and a population between 10-15k. I'll be very interested to speak with him as he learns more about our organization and community.
On Monday Deryl Wilson and I met with the architect and general contractor for the Agricultural Legacy Center. We're on schedule and on budget with this project and I'm looking forward to seeing the building start to be assembled.
Tuesday of this week was the MC Power Solar Farm dedication. I was honored to speak, along with Richard Shockley, and represent the City. Our residents and corporate citizens can be very proud of this development in our community.
This past Friday staff had a great meeting with OTC staff at the Airport. I'm excited to continue our conversations with them about a flight school expansion at our facility.
Some projects I'll be working on next week include: pre-taping Community Ties with Patty Burns; attending the REDI board meeting; working with Doug Thomas as he visits our community; researching how other communities handle derelict property given over to them to resolve code issues.
Please remember that Monday is Columbus Day and non-essential city offices will be closed. As such, the City Council meeting regularly scheduled for Monday will instead be on Tuesday at 7 PM. Be sure to use the new Agenda Center for your packets going forward. For your convenience, here is a direct link to the new council packet for our October 10th meeting.
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On October 14 from 10am-5pm is the Ag Days- Missouri Responsible Pet Breeders 4H Sheep and Goat Show, and ACA Dog Show. The event is at the Cowan Civic Center Exhibition Hall. For more details contact Kevin at 417-718-4182.
The Rout 66 Parking Lot Party will be on October 14 from 1-8 pm at the Munger Moss Motel. Groups featured include Okie Stampede, Jess McEntire, and JD Jarrell. Karaoke, vendors, classic cars, contests and other family fun will be on hand. Entry is free. More information can be found here.
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news
quiz
This week's quiz comes to us from the New York Times,
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