Jackson continues to grow

Jackson's slogan is the "City of Beautiful Homes, Parks, Schools, and Churches." Things are happening in each of those areas.

We have had a great deal of activity in home sales. During the month of April, there were 22 new homeowner accounts who signed up for utilities in the city. In addition, we had 35 new renters. (Records for the month of May have not yet been completed.) Building permit values so far this year total $9.5 million.

The Community Center is one of the big projects for our parks. We continue to work on the design phase of the new Community Center. At the last meeting of the Community Center Committee, there was good consensus among members on the design parameters.

The architectural firm will now put the design to paper and get a good cost estimate. Hopefully, it will be really close to the amount of money available to the Southeast Missouri Medical Center for building construction. We are still waiting to hear from FEMA regarding our application for a grant for a tornado safe room. In light of recent weather events, we are hopeful that we will receive a response from them quickly.

As our park system has continued to expand, it seems there is a need to have some direction for park growth. Key members of our city staff are developing a master plan for the parks to look at short-term and long-range objectives. Upon completion, the plan will be presented to the park board for their input and comments.

The park department has been giving special emphasis this year on getting the restrooms in good condition. In preparation for a big four-day, eight-team baseball tournament a new roof and new sinks on both sides of the restroom at the Legion Field were installed. Unfortunately, sometime between Saturday and Sunday mornings the sinks on both sides of the restroom were torn from the wall. This type of destructive vandalism is a useless loss of taxpayer money and is frustrating for those who want to provide good programs for our youth.

Our school enrollment continues to grow. Last month there were almost 350 graduates from Jackson High School, the largest senior class of all area high schools. As enrollment grows, the need for more space becomes a top priority. For that reason, a new elementary school is being built on the east side of town. The school, located on Lacey Street, has completed most of the site work and will begin paving the road shortly. We are looking forward to receiving plans for the building.

Last, but certainly not least, we are fortunate in our area because church attendance is still good and growing -- unlike the trend in many parts of the country. We are proud of the work of our Ministerial Alliance.

The 15 or more members of the Ministerial Alliance cooperate to provide a food pantry and provide additional support for those in need in the area and also for those who are just passing through but need some emergency help to get to their destination.

Barbara Lohr is the mayor of Jackson.