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Joplin City Council on Monday adopted a city vision statement and goals that were distilled in part from what City Manager Nick Edwards called a listening tour.
Edwards gathered feedback on Joplin’s strengths and needs by chatting with residents and collecting feedback via a survey that was completed by approximately 1,400 residents. Edwards and his team compiled an 80-page report to categorize the comments.
The council met in a one-day session on November 30 to discuss the results of the study and select initiatives and projects that members considered most important by residents.
The objectives considered to be the most important of Joplin:
• Tackle neighborhoods in decline.
• Improve the appearance of the community, including public property maintained by the city.
• Increase economic opportunities for all.
• Fight homelessness.
• Reduce crime and increase security.
• Create and increase resilient revenues to improve the levels of services offered by the city as well as to ensure the maintenance of infrastructure.
The vision statement is as follows:
“Joplin, built on generations of people with courage and determination, is a regional hub at the crossroads of America. Our diverse people and employers thrive on our healthy lifestyles, our great neighborhoods, our business opportunities. lifelong learning and our cultural and recreational facilities.
“Our connected community benefits from world-class healthcare, a reasonable cost of living and economic opportunities for all.
“Together we are ready for anything. Ad Omnia Parata.”
The last sentence is a statement from the flag of the city of Joplin which in Latin means “ready for anything”.
On another front, at Monday’s council meeting, Mayor Ryan Stanley called for city staff to hold a discussion between council and representatives of the Joplin Sports Authority to discuss mutual concerns and goals.
The mayor said he “felt we were not on the same page as JSA” when council decided to lease the town’s ball fields to a private company, Parkwood Tournament Co When council accepted a rental offer on November 2 for Parkwood to manage all of the town’s fields, the JSA extended a counter-offer that was not accepted.
Stanley said the hope is that the council and sporting authority can start 2021 on a new footing. The city manager said he would put together a list of topics for discussion and invite board members to a council meeting in February.
Stanley said he is looking for areas to celebrate successes with the Joplin Sports Authority, discuss any unresolved issues and how to improve from there.
In the remaining cases, a rezoning request for a new restaurant to be built on East 20th Street was brought forward by council after a public hearing at Monday night’s meeting.
Commercial zoning for the property at 3507 E. 20th St., which is east of the Mercy Convenient Care and Academy Sports store, is sought. The property is currently zoned for industrial use.
Municipal documents do not identify the type or name of the restaurant proposed for the location. The request was made by Josh Comer, who is not further identified in the documents.
Andrew Spieker, a real estate agent representing the buyer, represented the owner at the board meeting. When asked by Stanley which restaurant was offered for the site, Spieker said he was not free to divulge this information.
The board voted 9-0 to advance the request to final readings.
The advice also:
• Authorized a deal with Sage Valuations for $ 94,000 to appraise properties the city needs to expand Connecticut Avenue from 32nd Street south to Interstate 44. The city’s deputy director of public works for the engineering Dan Johnson said about 40 plots need to be assessed.
• Approval of a construction agreement with B3 Contractors LLC for $ 129,245 for the construction of certain storm water drains.
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