Goodman City Council To Apply For Trail Grant

Goodman Mayor J.R. Fisher broke a tie Tuesday night, signaling the go-ahead to pursue a trail grant.

Council members discussed the idea at length after alderwoman Sammie Jo Goodson told the council that she was surprised to learn that the council wanted to move ahead with submitting a rough draft for the grant. The grant could pay 80 percent toward a new trail.

Goodson said she was in charge of organizing the plan but thought, based on lack of communication, that the council was not pursuing it. She said her main contact with the Harry S. Truman Coordinating Council told her that the council should have started working on the project back in the summer. Time is now short, with the rough draft deadline on Jan. 29.

HSTCC officials have said they will assist Goodman city council members interested in applying for the grant. Goodson's contact sent her requirements that need to be met, including holding a public hearing to gain input from the community. She said what little input she has heard so far has not supported the effort.

Other requirements include having minutes of the meeting in which the council members vote to apply for the grant, as well as having information about the ownership of the property in question.

She told Fisher that he did not contact her, so she thought the project was not rolling forward.

Fisher said he should have communicated better, but thinks the idea is worth pursuing.

"I can't see us not attempting anything," he said.

Councilmember Clay Sexson raised the question of spending the money on the improvement, which could amount to $50,000, if the town should get the full amount for the grant. City officials have to commit to 20 percent of the total project's cost. He said input he's gained from neighbors include a focus on building infrastructure and making improvements in water and sewer, not building a trail.

Goodson said, if the town secures a grant, the city will be required to make a 20-year commitment. If city officials somehow fall through on that commitment, the city has to reimburse the total full amount of the grant. "I want to make sure the taxpayers want to spend their money on it (the trail)," she said.

Councilmember Ron Johnson said city officials are not committing to the project by simply applying with a rough draft by the first deadline. He said that the amount required by the city could be $15,000 if a lesser amount of the grant is approved. A final draft of the application is due at the end of February.

Councilmember Ed Tuomala said he thought the trail would be "one heck of an asset."

Tuomala made a motion for officials to submit a rough draft for the project, seconded by Johnson. Goodson and Sexson voted no. Fisher broke the tie.

In other news, the council passed on second readings, Bill No. 2021-516, 2021-517 and 2021-518, which deal with changing verbiage regarding the municipal judge's position from an elected position to an appointed one.