After months of quarantine and a frigid February, it is time to get outside and join your neighbors in a community-wide effort to be more active.
Springfield is proud to be the Gateway to the Great Outdoors. It is the home of Bass Pro Shops and the Wonders of Wildlife National Museum & Aquarium, an award-winning parks system and an impressive network of greenway trails.
And yet, according to the 2019 Community Focus Report, the obesity rate for the city of Springfield has grown from 24% in 2004 to 36% in 2019. The amount of time outside is alarmingly low, while screen time is at an all-time high.
The six Rotary Clubs of Springfield are excited to continue a rich history of collaboration to challenge the entire Springfield community to the goal of 1 million activity hours for May 1, 2021 to April 30, 2022 through a new initiative called ROAM (an acronym for Rotary’s Outdoor & Activity Movement).
A new app and ROAMSGF.com website will motivate citizens to get up from their desk or the couch to be more active. It will be designed to address disease prevention of a variety of conditions precipitated by a sedentary lifestyle – high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, sleep apnea, depression and more.
Across Springfield’s 22 registered neighborhoods, there are many new places to discover. A weekly curated top 5 list of ROAM-recommended events, parks, trails and wellness facilities will entice citizens to venture out of our daily routines.
By breaking out of daily routines, Springfieldians will be brought closer together in appreciating authentic beautiful places and sharing these authentic Ozarks gems with family and friends.
Check out ROAMSGF.com for more information.
2021 City budget recommendations
As City Manager Jason Gage prepares his fiscal year 2021-2022 budget to go before City Council this spring, the Neighborhood Advisory Council submitted its annual recommendations in February. The full recommendations can be viewed at SGFNeighborhoodNews.com/NAC, but I wanted to provide you with the highlights.
At the top of our list is providing additional funding to the Building Development Services department to address the pervasive problem of chronic nuisance properties. NAC looks forward to working with new BDS Director Dwayne Shmel. We are grateful for City Council’s authorization of three new positions in BDS to support efforts to strengthen the department. We ask that City Council continue to emphasize the enforcement of existing codes.
The neighborhood cleanup program is an important resource to neighborhoods. The NAC would like to partner with the City to explore new options of offering trash collection services between annual cleanups in order to strengthen the quality of place for residents and visitors. We also support continuing to fund the Great Neighborhoods Program and ensuring that it is funded at a level appropriate for the growing number of associations.
We are encouraged with the launch of a new program called Restore SGF to strengthen our historic neighborhoods. Encouraging new investment in Springfield’s housing stock and cultivating private-public partnerships with developers, financial institutions, real estate agents and other key stakeholders will enhance property values and civic pride. Learn more at RestoreSGF.com.
We encourage the City to continue to provide staff support, print and postage funding for SGF Neighborhood News publication and website. This initiative is crucial to promoting the grassroots work across our neighborhoods.
The NAC also supports the following new investments in neighborhoods:
Employer-assisted housing program – NAC requests the City reinstate its employer-assisted housing program which was in place before the 2008 recession. This $5,000 down payment/closing costs forgivable loan program is a key tool to encourage City staff to live in the city limits of Springfield, and would be especially useful for the recruitment of new police officers.
Traffic services – Expand the Springfield Police Department’s traffic services by 20 hours per week for evening and weekend traffic enforcement in neighborhoods across the city. This request was deferred for this fiscal year, but the need for more presence remains.