point of view

Excelsior Springs, Missouri

I never knew that winter could be so beautiful.

On this date in 2013, "Frozen", the highest-grossing animated film of all time is released. This is one of the movie's favorite quotes. Winter is usually given a bit of a bad rep. Winter indicates cold & gloomy weather where one must spend the season indoors, while summer feels more carefree & relaxed. Yet this Frozen quote seems to have a deeper meaning behind it than how it is originally perceived. Instead of just being about winter, this quote seems to imply that beauty can be found in the most unexpected places & that one should never judge a book by its cover. That falls right in line with the events of the Frozen movies.

week of November 27th

Monday, noon - Hospital Board; 6pm - Planning & Zoning

Tuesday, 4:30pm - Municipal Court; 6pm - Parks & Recreation

Thursday, 10am - Housing Authority

Friday, 7:30am - City Council work session

upcoming agendas

Planning & Zoning will hold public hearing & make recommendations to council regarding short term rental properties; discussion continued from earlier session to consider density standards & clarification for violations. Planning & Zoning Study Session to follow.

Parks & Recreation will consider monthly financial report; staff & committee reports, new business includes apparel bids, official bid, volunteer coach background checks, & parks maintenance truck.

City Council issues under development include amendments to personnel policy, structural engineer on-call agreement; amendments to codes regarding marijuana related offenses; liquor license @ 251 E. Broadway & recommendations from Planning/Zoning & Parks/Recreation.

making a difference

Celebrating work anniversaries this week - Brad Smith, Assistant Fire Chief - 36 years; Joe Maddick, Fire Chief - 29 years; Nate Williams, Director of Parks, Recreation & Community Center - 8 years; Avery Bartlett, Opening Lifeguard - 5 years; Drake Pollard, Assistant Director of PRCC - 2 years; Thomas Johnson, Sewer Maintenance Worker - 2 years.

small town vibes

A little refresher on the community center. Voters approved construction of the community center in 2014 to be financed with a 1 cent sales tax that will expire 25 years after it was adopted, in 2039. In 2021, the community center bonds were re-financed to take advantage of better interest rates, which provided enough financing to construct the outdoor pool with cool weather dome. A citizen's committee selected an architect who designed the center to satisfy the needs that had been expressed to the committee. The outdoor pool was an amenity that was part of the original design of the center, but cut out to stay in budget & because it was easier to add later than any of the indoor amenities.

The operation of the Community Center is financed with memberships. 55% of the Community Center memberships are from the Excelsior Springs zip code. In comparison, 48% of Walmart shoppers are from the Excelsior Springs zip code. Memberships come from over 100 zip codes. The community center membership includes 0 to age 100. 27.3% are youth (under age 21); 31% are working age (21-50); 41.6% are retirement age & over 50. We have learned, what a key component the center is to supporting our journey to achieving health & wellness. Membership by the decades sorted by the greatest number of members follows: 16.5% are age 11-20; 16.0% are age 61-70; & 12.6% are age 71-80. Scholarships are available.

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choose your attitude!

What do the New York Giants, Al Capone & Harry S. Truman have in common? They all stayed at the Elms Hotel & Spa at some point in its history. It's no wonder these famous guests were drawn to the hotel - its first rate service & amenities were well-known then & are still a selling point today. read it www.visitmo.com