January 2019

I want to start out by welcoming all of you into 2019. The New Year has begun, and old man winter is in full swing. With significant amounts of snow and extreme cold weather, I am already excited about spring and hope old man winter does not linger too many more months.

From the office of City Hall, it has been a very busy start to the new year. Mark Bales stepped down as Alderman and has officially joined the city staff as our new Director of Parks & Recreation. He will oversee the day-to-day business and maintenance of all of the City’s parks and recreation facilities. He will work closely with the current Parks & Recreation board to maintain all of the facilities and expand our activities out at the city lake. Additionally, with the resignation of Mark Bales, Rodney Cates has been appointed as Alderman taking Mark’s position through the balance of his term which ends at the end of March 2019. Be on the lookout for candidates that will be running for election of Alderman for a two-year term beginning in April 2019. Finally, as many of you may have already seen, Steve Seller’s has stepped down as the City Administrator and Matt Nolker has been appointed by the Board of Alderman to take Steve’s place. We are ever so grateful and indebted to Steve for helping the city to progress in so many ways during his tenure. His knowledge of Lawson coupled with his experience and professionalism has helped the city excel from infrastructure projects, sale of water & sewer to Missouri American Water, to land purchases which have positioned Lawson for future growth. From all of us at City Hall, especially me, and so many citizens, “Thank You Steve”. We would not be where we are today without you.
The good news is that Steve has agreed to stay on in a consulting role for a period of time to help Matt and team with the various projects that have been started under Steve’s reign to help see them through fruition.

So the new era begins with Matt Nolker. Matt and team have already been very busy with so many projects such as, continued work out at the city lake with the new  Event Center and RV Park. The event center will be a showcase facility to host various events with a breathtaking view of the lake. This event center will be special and provide Lawson with a venue that will compete with any venue in the greater northland. This coupled with the RV Park which is well on its way with phase one to include first class campsite pads that will include water, electrical hook-ups, Wi-Fi, and first-class shower houses. Both facilities will be equipped with our green theme and be solar powered. The targeted operational date is by the end of May to be up and operational for the summer season. Be on the lookout for more information. In addition to the activity out at the city lake, you may have read where the city has entered into an agreement to purchase the pool from the previous ownership group back in December. Since that time, we have been feverishly working to make improvements to the pool, pump house, shower house, and concession stand. We are fully transforming the existing pool and amenities into a real show stopper. With improvements and new play apparatuses being installed this spring for summer time enjoyment. We want to again thank all of those who helped to bring the Lawson pool to existence many years ago and those who have helped to keep it alive up until this past season. We will make all of you proud with the enhancements and hope that this facility will be a source of family fun and enjoyment for many years to come. Please be on the lookout for membership drives and a grand opening date in the coming months.

We have much more exciting information to share with you at each and every city council meeting which is traditionally the last Monday of the month at city hall starting at 6:30 PM. Please come join and come be a part of helping our city grow.

Upcoming Important Dates:
• February 25th – 6:30 PM City Council Meeting @ City Hall

Your Mayor, Greg Taylor