CON V ERGING CA MPUS & COMMUNIT Y
NORTHWEST MISSOURIAN THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2023
MARYVILLE, MISSOURI
NWMISSOURINEWS.COM
VOL. 112, NO. 5
FIRST PHASE FINALE
@THEMISSOURIAN
Northwest continues COVID-19, influenza precautions SIDNEY LOWRY Editor-in-Chief | @sidney_lowry
PHOTO BY ALEXIS STARKS PHOTO EDITOR PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JULIANNA LAWRENCE ASST. DESIGN EDITOR
South Main construction completion celebrated SIDNEY LOWRY Editor-in-Chief | @sidney_lowry
T
en years, eight months and 18 days after planning the South Main Corridor Improvement Project, members of the Maryville community came together to celebrate the ribbon cutting for the completion of Phase I Sept. 18. Assistant City Manager Ryan Heiland led the ribbon cutting ceremony with speakers Maryville Mayor Tye Parsons, City Manager Greg McDanel and other key figures within the project and the city. “What a great day for the city of Maryville,” Parsons said. “The South Main project is transformative for the city of Maryville
and will benefit this and future generations for years to come.” Before making it to the ribbon cutting, there were years of planning. Talk of the project started in December 2012 when the city approved the Maryville Comprehensive City Plan. Throughout that plan, the redevelopment of South Main Street was a top priority. In 2014, a traffic corridor study outlined a $15 million, three phase improvement plan. After years of planning and collecting and applying for funding, and in 2018 the city in partnership with the Northwest Regional Council of Governments submitted a nearly $10.5 million Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development grant application to the U.S. Department of Transportation and was one of the four
Missouri projects chosen. The transformational project included pavement reconstruction, new traffic signals, storm swerve construction, sidewalk and lighting updates and more in the three-phase plan to improve functionality and safety. The COVID-19 pandemic hit right in the middle of this project, which Parsons said was the hardest part of completing the transformation. As construction companies started to bid on the project in the midst of the pandemic, there was a $3.5 million gap in the budget due to rising costs of materials. To combat the rise in prices, the project was split, in which the first was officially celebrated Sept. 18.
SEE CELEBRATION | A4
City talks tax income, expenses in preliminary Fiscal Year ‘24 budget HANNAH CLAYWELL News Editor | @Hannah_9504
Before the regular Maryville City Council meeting, a special meeting was held to discuss the Fiscal Year 2024 budget Sept. 18. City Manager Greg McDanel discussed the budget for the transient guest tax fund, Mozingo Lake Recreation Park fund and the water/sewer fund. All of the budgeted expenses are still preliminary and are not yet guaranteed. “I do want to apologize on behalf of myself and the staff’s been working really hard on this year’s budget,” McDanel said. “It is a very complex budget…We are factoring in almost, I think it’s a total of 16
different grant projects.” The budget also includes a 5% cost of living adjustment and a 15% placeholder for health insurance for city employees. The transient guest tax fund is specific to tourism in Maryville. It covers plans like the Downtown Pavilion Project, wayfinding signage and even the Carl and Cheryl Hughes Fieldhouse for community events. The city promised to put money into the Fieldhouse continuously over the years. McDanel and Tourism Director DeAnn Davison talked about the differences for the FY ’24 budget. McDanel said it’s a very strategic plan. One of the main things dis-
AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1914.
ALLISON DUARTE PHOTOGRAPHER
City Manager Greg McDanel breaks down the Fiscal Year 2024 budget for the Maryville City Council Sept. 18. McDanel discussed budget information on the three different funds for the next year.
cussed was Placer.ai, which is a service that monitors where people are going and which businesses they are interacting with. McDanel said this is not getting any more information than is already provided by having a cell phone. Davison said the Tour-
ism Committee wants to use this data for marketing in Maryville. “Since it does provide so much information, it’s a great tool for grant writing and really advertising,” Davison said.
SEE BUDGET | A4
Over four months ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention marked the end of the COVID-19 pandemic public health emergency May 11. Despite this, there are still new variants developing and more vaccines being created. As of Sept. 14, the Federal Drug Administration and the CDC approved the recommendation of a new booster vaccine for COVID for the developing variants of the virus. Individuals 5 years or older are eligible to receive the new vaccine regardless of previous vaccination status. Assistant Vice President of Health and Wellbeing Tyler Tapps said Northwest will not offer the booster vaccine out of the Wellness Center, but students who want the vaccine should go to healthcare providers in the community and Mosaic Medical Center - Maryville. “We made that decision not to because the cost had changed post May 11,” Tapps said. “And because of expiration and the amount of people that were using them it was extremely, extremely low. So because they expire, we didn’t purchase.” Northwest is continuing to follow CDC guidelines for COVID. The way of handling COVID has stayed the same: Still continue to isolate, wear masks and avoid contact with people who are at high risk of getting sick. Though these guidelines are the same, they have changed as the classification has moved away from being a public health emergency. “I think our biggest issue is just communicating to people about what the CDC recommends,” Tapps said. The CDC said to isolate if someone is sick and suspects they may have COVID, regardless of vaccination status. If the test is negative, people can resume their daily lives. If the test is positive, people should stay at home and isolate themselves for at least five days. Tapps said the beginning of the year has had the lowest number of positive COVID cases since the beginning of the pandemic, with only 22 reported cases. In 2022, there were 25 positive cases and in 2021 there were 44 cases. Even though there hasn’t been an uptick in cases, Tapps said there is a response team that meets once a week to discuss public health concerns, and Northwest is in constant communication with the Nodaway County Health Department and Mosaic Medical Center - Maryville. Though the pandemic is officially over, cases of the common cold, influenza and strep throat are still common at the beginning of the school year. To combat this, Northwest Wellness Services is hosting a series of flu shot clinics at the J.W. Jones Student Union in October. The first clinic is from noon to 2 p.m. Oct. 5 in the Student Union Ballroom. The second is 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 11 in the Student Union Meeting Room A. The final clinic will be 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 17 in the Student Union Meeting Room A.
PLEASE
RECYCLE