Mayor seeks votes to support ‘planting trees’

Renee Riedel

Last Thursday, Feb. 11, the Maryville city staff held a community public forum to discuss the upcoming Mozingo ballot questions.

I have heard the information many times. Each time, the information resonates with me more. However, some questions and comments that night left me feeling perplexed.

As I left the forum, I heard in the parking lot, “The City Council is too young. They need to be beat up a couple of times. They don’t know what it was like in the 70s.”

I spent most of the remainder of the evening thinking about that comment.

The average age of the City Council is less than that of prior years. However, I think it is important to note that the Conference Center at Mozingo has been a City Council top priority since before I was appointed in 2012.

The four men I joined on the Council were older than me, retired — yet they were the true champions of this vision.

I do believe that the current City Council and staff may be one of the most progressive groups that has led our City. This progressive way of thinking has trademarked projects like the 4th Street corridor, Munn Avenue, and CTRIP.

It also has led to a pro-business environment resulting in the Fountain Park Development on the south end of town, the Maryville Eastside Development on the bypass, and Kawasaki’s recent expansion. Maryville is bursting at the seams with growth and development. These are very exciting times for our community.

A phrase has haunted me since I became a City Council member. “If you build it, they will come.”

I spoke to the Host Lions more than a year ago. Someone asked me what Council was doing to meet a goal of retaining young people in Maryville. I didn’t have a good answer.

I panicked. The first thing that spat from my mouth was, “If you build it, they will come.” My intention in that statement was to stress the significance of economic development and job creation.

I again spoke to that same Lions group just a couple of weeks ago. My story this time was that my moment of panic and silly words are actually a reality.

Last month, a group of Alumni (’73-’78) Bearcat baseball players was visiting Maryville. I understand that they weren’t visiting because of a city project that had been completed. But, while they were here they noticed several projects and improvements to our community.

A former MLB baseball player and his Bearcat teammates were proud of the accomplishments we have made. They were excited by the progress they saw. They talked about returning with their families to explore more of Maryville.

I chatted with one of them who had never heard of Mozingo. He planned to go home, online, and potentially book a cabin for a future weekend. This is real progress.

An opportunity is in front of us to continue to build Mozingo.

The City staff has done the research. An economic impact study tells us that Mozingo generates over $9M in local sales, $2.3M additional net income, 266,616 outside visitors to our City.

I realize that a request for a sales tax increase can be concerning.

The first ballot question asks for the existing tax to be renewed. This renewal will maintain our beautiful park and continue to build on amenities such as cabins, RV Park, and other facilities.

The second ballot question requests an increase of 1/8 of a cent to build a Conference Center at Mozingo.

If passed, an $8 purchase will cost one cent more. This penny will build a venue that will host weddings, graduation parties, corporate team building events, and more. The future visitors and events this venue could host will build our park and our entire community.

The question you have to ask yourself is, “Is one cent per $8 worth it to me to build a better home and community for me, my children, and my children’s children.”

There was another powerful comment made at last week’s meeting.

“You don’t plant trees for today. You plant them for the future. Plant the trees. Let them grow for our future.”

That is the comment that I am going to let stick with me. I am 38 now. When I am 58, I hope we are discussing the next 20 years.

I don’t want Maryville to ever be in the position that many small communities are struggling to overcome.

If I’ve followed my dreams as a Council member, future Councils and City staff will for many years be discussing what trees to grow next.

Renee Riedel

Mayor & Citizen