Heiland talks future city plans

GEOFFREY WOEHLK/THE FORUM
City Manager Ryan Heiland was appointed to the post in June after serving as interim city manager since March.

MARYVILLE, Mo. — When City Manager Ryan Heiland was hired as Maryville’s assistant city manager in 2012, he thought it would be a two- or three-year pit stop. But as happens so often with people who move to Maryville, here he is 13 years later — calling it home.

“There’s just something special about this community, there really is,” Heiland told The Forum in an interview earlier this month. “And I don’t know how to define it, I don’t know how to pinpoint what it is, but I think just the longer you stay here and you get to know the people and you get to know the community, it’s just a great quality of life, it’s a great environment for families — just a great community.

“It’s hard to explain, but if you’re from here, you just understand that it’s a tough place to leave.”

Over the past 13 years as assistant city manager, Heiland had opportunities elsewhere to pursue, but it was Maryville he came to think of as his “second hometown.”

Originally from Iowa, Heiland was one of several in his family — including both his parents — to graduate from Northwest Missouri State University. Former City Manager Greg McDanel has said that was one of several factors that made Heiland the obvious choice as McDanel’s first hire after taking over as city manager in 2012.

Becoming a city manager, Heiland said, was never a specific ambition. But when the opportunity presented itself in the place he wanted to keep working, he was excited to take it. In June, he was named to the post permanently after serving in an interim capacity since McDanel departed in March.

So for more than four months, he’s been fulfilling the responsibilities of his old job as assistant city manager and his new job. He said it’s been a team effort during that time. City staff have split up the workload and each taken on different projects to keep all the plates spinning while the city sorts through applications for a new assistant city manager.

“I have to give a ton of credit to staff,” Heiland said. “A lot of them have stepped up to help out in doing all of these projects that we are still pushing forward, and so we’ve done a really good job.”

As for his leadership style, Heiland said he tries to be as collaborative as possible — and that includes how he wants to interact with the community.

“I really enjoy getting other people’s opinions,” he said. “I’m not to the point where I think my idea is going to be the best idea, and that’s what we do. I want to know what everybody thinks about, ‘Hey, how would you address this issue? What do you think?’ And being able to bring all those ideas together and put (together) a plan to move forward with a collaborative approach.”

He said he’s particularly looking forward to the pedestrian alleyway and pavilion projects downtown.

“They should be completed by this time next year, and just to see what kind of impact that has on downtown — I’m really excited for that,” Heiland said.

Heiland’s palpable excitement about building a water treatment plant, though, was typical of the commitment to civic development that he’s dedicated his professional life to so far.

“That’s a big opportunity that you don’t really get,” he said of the water treatment plant process. “A lot of people go their whole lives and don’t get the opportunity to build a water treatment plant.”

Also greatly anticipated is the new Maryville2045 comprehensive plan process, which will be perhaps the most important project of the next couple of decades because it will lay out what the city will be working toward over the next 20 years.

Heiland said he sees that time as one of great potential growth for Maryville.

“I think the quality of life here is going to become attractive to people in urban centers,” he said. “Potentially former Bearcats, former residents, starting to see, ‘Hey, this is a place I should come back to. I can raise a family here. There are so many amenities here. It’s just like living in a big city without all of the hassles.’

“… Now, there are challenges to making that happen.”

Looming largest are the lack of child care and housing in the region. The city has been working with the county’s top employers to try and come up with creative solutions, and the city is in the process of working with a consulting firm on a study to help identify how best to tackle the child care issue in particular.

“Those are probably the two biggest hurdles that we need to overcome to really make that a realistic vision for attracting younger people back to the community,” Heiland said. “Those are solvable, I really believe. They’re challenging, but there’s ways to make it better.

“And I think once we crack that puzzle, I think you’ll start to see the opportunity to bring people back to the community and see some growth back to Maryville.”