Weekly Waynesville Update for the Week of August 20, 2024

Curious about the latest developments in Waynesville? Mayor Sean Wilson joins us to share critical updates from the recent city council meeting. Discover how the approval of the 2023 ad valorem tax rate impacts your household and learn about exciting appointments like Tracy Cofellas joining the City Park Board. We also unpack new ordinances, such as the establishment of a loading and unloading zone at North Benton and North Street, and significant improvements in our electric infrastructure.

We dive into future plans that will shape Waynesville's landscape, including a property rezoning on Historic Route 66 to make room for multifamily residential homes, enhancing affordable housing options. Mayor Wilson also unveils a new city website and app designed to keep residents informed and engaged through customizable notifications. Stay tuned to find out how these changes promise to elevate the quality of life in our community and what you can expect from the upcoming developments at Patriot Landing.

Transcript

Mayor Sean A. Wilson

Good morning. This is Sean Wilson, the mayor of Waynesville, with your weekly update for August 20th, 2024. Last week, the city of Waynesville conducted our monthly city council meeting and we had many actions and ordinances that were introduced and passed. First, there was a public hearing for our ad valorem tax rate for 2023. This tax rate has been consistent over the last three years, which is good for our citizens. The ad valorem tax rate is based on the assessed value of our real and personal property, and basically, it simply means according to the value. Our county assessor's office could answer any questions on this process. The ordinance HB 2024-24 passed unanimously. We also had an appointment with a new park board. Member is Tracy Cofellas, who was recommended and unanimously appointed to our Waynesville City Park Board. She is replacing one of our park board members who had to step aside because of their health issues. We will undoubtedly miss Mr. Caleb Padgett being a part of our team, and we are certainly keeping him and his family in our prayers. 

We also had a proposed ordinance to establish a loading and unloading zone at the intersection of North Benton and North Street. This is in front of business graphics right there on the corner. Previously, the business owner wanted a designated parking spot for her business, but our team developed and came up with a better idea to maximize the usage for the community; we designated it as a loading zone and unloading zone with a time limit. This proposed ordinance passed unanimously, and we're happy to go out and take care of this issue for our businesses down there on the square. We also had a proposed ordinance for the sale of phase two, or lot two, phase two of Patriot Landing. For those who don't know where Patriot Landing is, it is across the street from the movie theater on top of the hill, so the land is closest to I-44. So we sold two lots there. We're excited about what will come here to our community. No, the owner did not disclose the project details to us, but we know it fits the city's plan regarding quality of life and economic development. So we're pretty excited about this opportunity and can't wait. This opportunity, and I can't wait. We'll see here in the next 60 days what will be communicated as a result of the future of that property. We also had a couple of ordinances.

One was for a power line construction expansion of our electric feeder lines HB 2024-28, which was unanimously approved and voted on. We also had a proposed ordinance, hb 2024-29, which approved a rezoning from a C2R to an R3. This is located at 1904 Historic Route 66. This is located at 1904 Historic Route 66. Going from a commercial two to a multifamily residential three. That tells us that we will be moving and expanding our residential home options. So this is always a good deal for bringing more affordable homes to our community, and it being multifamily, I'm pretty excited to see what we're going to have here at that location as well. We don't know the specific details of that project, but we do know the scope is to fulfill the requirement of R3. All right. So, we have a proposed ordinance, HB 2024-30, which was also a proven agreement with AptoG. 

This is the city website and communication upgrade for those following the city's updates. This action is in support of our new city website. This is yet another avenue to get information out to our citizens. Citizens can download an app for their phone to stay abreast of all of the city business and customizable notifications. You can sign up to be notified of specific types of information, so we're very excited about that. You can now download it to get information out to the citizens and those who do not frequent social media platforms. You can now download an app to stay connected with the city. Now, this city, this new option of this website, will launch before, or no later than, the new year. I'll just put it like that. It usually takes between 60 to 90 days, but I can safely say that before the new year, we will have that new website up, and we will definitely have videos showing people how to navigate the website so you can be familiar with it. So we're pretty excited about that as well. That passed also unanimously to go into that agreement. 

The city of Waynesville is also working on mowing the right of way along Route 66. MoDOT is responsible for that, but they only cut that grass twice a year. So, in between that time, we want to ensure we keep our city presentable, so we are working hard to do that with our equipment. The town has a new reserve officer, mr Luke Carnahan, and we are happy to welcome him to our team as a reserve police officer for the Waynesville PD. So we're pretty excited about that as well. 

We have a couple of events that will be taking place here. One of them is the Patriot Day Festival. That's going to be Saturday, September 7th, at 10 am. Saturday, September 7th at 10 am in the Ruby Doo Park. Of course, we have the third annual Hogs and Frogs Fest, which will take place from September 20th to the 22nd. You can visit wwwroute66thenumberscom for all event information. 

I want to share something that's supposed to be taking place event information. I want to share something else that's supposed to occur. The Waynesville Animal Shelter, the Kitten and Puppy Division, the Loving Paws Adoption Center, and Dogwood Animal Shelter are joining forces and will all be at the Waynesville Ruby Duke Park on August 31st from 11 am to 4 pm. There will be many available dogs and cats to choose from. Don't miss out on this fantastic opportunity to meet many different animals. There will also be catering from Route 66 Taco Company. They will have food available for either a monetary donation to one of the shelters or you can bring a bag of food or other pet supply donations equivalent to the $20 minimum. This is a great cause, and I encourage you to attend again. This will be in the ruby dew park on August 31st from 11 am to 4 pm. And that concludes this week's update, and I look forward to seeing you around the town.