September 2019
Happy October from the Mayor’s corner. It has been several months since I have posted an update. I hope everyone is doing well and settling back into early fall activities as summer is officially over. Kids are back in school and the fall activities throughout Lawson are in full swing. The weather is beginning to change, and the fall colors are just around the corner. Not that I personally am looking forward to the thousands of leaves falling and raking them up, but it is the wonderful joy of living in the Midwest where we have four seasons most years. I hope all of you had a wonderful summer and found time to spend with family and friends enjoying some fun in the sun.
It has been a very busy summer at City Hall and throughout Lawson with numerous updates to share with you. Let’s first start with changes and new faces on the board. We accepted the resignation of Jack Woodring who has retired to Florida to be with his family. I personally and publicly want to say thank you to Jack for all that he has done for the city and the wonderful memories he has created. We wish Jack and his family the best in their new home in Florida close to their children and grandchildren. With Jack’s departure, we have Kara Hamberlin who has joined the city council. Kara is a small business owner who has lived in the Lawson community for the past 15 years. She’s married to her husband David and they have two daughters who attend the Lawson schools. We are excited to have Kara on board and look forward to her contributions and helping Lawson grow. Secondly, the city was deeded the pool earlier this year and we are happy to report that we had a successful year one of operating the pool. The city made significant improvements at the pool and the membership was strong for year one.
The lifeguard and concession stand staff did a fantastic job and I want to thank all of them who worked at the pool. This naturally created several new seasonal jobs for our youth in Lawson while maintaining a wonderful safe environment for families and friends to enjoy. Be on the lookout for further improvements early next spring.
Thirdly, most of you have seen the aggressive marketing campaign from United Fiber. Yes, we are finally getting a strong fiber optic partner to come to Lawson and provide highspeed internet, phone, and cable service. The roll-out in Lawson is planned for October / November with phase one. Please contact United Fiber and get signed up to receive more information. Fourth, I am sure most of you have seen the infrastructure improvements that have been made this summer through our street improvement project that has been going on for the past four years. We have had a plan in place to improve all of the major streets throughout Lawson through the bond funds we received several years ago. I am happy to report that we are ahead of schedule and I am sure you will agree that those streets that have been repaved are a vast improvement from where they were at. Additionally, we were able to convince MDOT to repave D Highway and upgrade the shoulders. This is also a significant improvement for not only Lawson but for those who travel through Lawson. Fifth, we recently announced at our city council meeting in August the need to form a committee for Lawson’s centennial celebration of 150 years young in 2021. We want this to be a spectacular event that past, present, and hopefully future residence of Lawson can get excited about and help us celebrate this milestone. If there is interest in serving and helping on this committee, please contact Matt Nolker, your council person, or myself. Sixth, the recent news of the grant the city received from the Mid America Regional Council for a recycling center. With our trash service eliminating pick up service of our recyclables, many of you voiced concern and through help from your city council members led by Donnie Shook working with Lawson High School (Students in Action?) we are moving forward with setting up a recycling center with more details to follow in the coming months. Seventh, I have taken steps to formalize the EDC (Economic
Development Committee) which will be led by a group of ten, consisting of local business owners and representatives from the school district, fire district, and chamber of commerce. This board along with support from city hall will help to drive strategy and bring economic development through areas such as new businesses and residential development. This is very exciting, and I hope this will lead to a paradigm shift that will progressively lead growth into a sustainable future.
Finally, I know I have spoken about the city lake and all of the improvements that we have been working on. I still get excited every time I go out there and see families and citizens enjoying the lake and all the amenities surrounding the lake. The landscaping next to the event center is nearing completion to include a fire pit and water feature. What a beautiful addition to the event center and binzebo. Naturally, the disc golf course is being heavily used and positive remarks are being heard frequently. The RV park is coming along nicely with grass seed recently being sewn and additional sites being developed for camper and RV parking. Be on the lookout for an official ribbon cutting ceremony of which we will invite all of you to come out and see what the lake property has turned into as well as what our future plans are for Lawson Lake.
As you can see there is and has been a lot going on in and around Lawson.
As in previous Mayor’s corners I invite all of you to attend the upcoming City Council meetings to learn more about the future of Lawson and personally ask questions. Please come join us and be a part of helping our city grow.
Upcoming Important Dates:
• October 26th – Fall Festival downtown Lawson
• October 28th – 6:30 PM City Council Meeting @ City Hall
Your Mayor, Greg Taylor