Shopping local is wise investment
By Mayor Bill Jenks, III
I’m sure that all of you have given some thought as to how important in today’s economic climate it is that we consider the benefits of patronizing our local businesses, restaurants and retail establishments in the weeks and months ahead.
Regardless of how the presidential election, and local and state elections turned out, we as citizens, must remember that we can do our part to ensure that our community continues to prosper and grow in the months and years to come. One of the easiest ways to do this, as simple as it may sound, is to remember to do as much of your day to day and holiday shopping right here in Rolla and Phelps County.
So please consider the real and significant benefits shopping local will bring not only to you, but our area businesses, retail outlets, restaurants, grocery stores and banking institutions. Fuel prices are fortunately back below the $2 mark, and will hopefully stay that way throughout the holiday season, but the recent reduction in the cost of fuel doesn’t offset the need for all of us to continue to support and patronize our local shops and stores.
And when you decide to purchase locally, you are not only helping to sustain and grow business in the area, but you are also fueling our economy from both an investment and employment perspective. We have much to be grateful for as we approach the holidays, and one of the best ways to demonstrate our gratitude is to reinvest in our community.
Rolla, British Columbia meets Rolla, Missouri
With a population of 200 people, the Canadian town of Rolla, British Columbia is located about 12 miles from the frontier town of Dawson Creek – better known as Mile Zero on the 2,288-mile-long Alaska Highway.
The elevation is about 2,100 feet (1,000 more than in Rolla, Missouri), and its location 80 miles east of the Rocky Mountains and seven miles from the Alberta, Canada boarder, make it an ideal location for grain farming, and many decades ago, homesteading. Over 98 percent of the town’s industry consists of farming, and the climate is milder than you might imagine for a Canadian Province where 40-below zero is not unheard of.
This is the picture painted of Rolla, British Columbia by Gordon Miller during a visit he and three other Miller family siblings and their spouses, and the spouse of a deceased sister, made to Rolla City Hall (901 North Elm Street), in Rolla, Missouri on Friday, Nov. 7, 2008. Gordon, a third-generation Miller, and his wife, Brenda Miller, who both reside in Rolla, British Columbia, are retracing their roots in Rolla, Missouri where Gordon’s ancestors once lived over 100 years ago.
The 9-member contingency from British Columbia are visiting family cemeteries and the old Miller Homestead located in Camp Creek in Phelps County. Historic records indicate that the Millers were an early pioneer family in Phelps County, and that one of the Millers once served as a county judge.
While visiting Rolla City Hall Gordon was presented with a large Rolla Welcome banner from City Administrator John Butz, who coordinated the visit through Rolla resident Russ Lindenlaub. Gordon said he plans to display the welcome banner in the Rolla, British Columbia community center.
“It’s always a pleasure whenever we have the opportunity to visit at City Hall with such friendly folks like these whose ancestry traces to Rolla, Missouri,” said Butz. “It always amazes me how many connections people from all over the country, including the Canadian Provence of British Columbia, have with Rolla’s history and heritage.”
Bourbon High School Ecology students tour Rolla Recycling Center
As part of a day-long field trip that included stops at the City of Rolla’s Southwest Treatment Plant, and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR), a group of 23 Ecology students from Bourbon High School recently toured the Rolla Recycling Center located at 2141 Old St. James Road.
The tour of the Recycling Center on Thursday, Nov. 6 was hosted by Solid Waste Director Brady Wilson, who did a lot more than ‘talk trash’ to the group of juniors and seniors who attend Jon Johnson’s Ecology class at Bourbon High School in Bourbon, Missouri.
Wilson’s main message to the students was that “just about anything we use and consume at home, at work and around town can be recycled.” The students were surrounded by mountains of recycled paper and cardboard as Wilson emphasized how important recycling is, not only from an environmental and ecological perspective, but also an economic one.
“Touring the Rolla Recycling Center helps to broaden the student’s awareness of their career opportunities in Geology and Ecology, and increases their awareness of the impact that recycling has on their environment,” said Hylan Beydler, Public Information Coordinator with the DNR, Division of Geology and Land Survey in Rolla. Beydler, who coordinated the day-long field trip and environmental education outreach with Jim Lubbers from the DNR in Jefferson City, said the field trip was funded entirely from the State’s Scrap Tire fee, which is coordinated by DNR.
Wilson, who is passionate about recycling, the environment, and educating the public about the positive impact recycling and the Rolla Recycling Center has on our community, conducts student and civic tours of the Recycling Center on a regular basis. To schedule a tour of the facility, or for more information about the Recycling Center and new Household Hazardous Waste Facility, please call the Solid Waste Department at (573) 364-6693.
To schedule a tour of the DNR offices in Rolla, please call Hylan Beydler at (573) 368-2100.
Buckle up to avoid ticket And arrive alive
Nearly one in four Missourians still fail to regularly wear their safety belts when driving or riding in a motor vehicle.
Among those least likely to buckle up are young males, pickup truck drivers and their passengers, people who live in rural areas, and night time drivers.
The Rolla Police Department recently announced it is joining with law enforcement agencies across the state on Nov. 26 for an aggressive “Click It or Ticket” mobilization to crack down on Missouri’s safety belt law violators and to reduce highway fatalities.
Failure to regularly wear a safety belt can be deadly. In 2007, a driver in a Missouri traffic crash has a 1 in 32 chance of being killed if they were not wearing a seat belt. In cases where the driver wore a seat belt, their chance of being killed was 1 in 1,309.
“Regular safety belt use is the single most effective way to protect people and reduce fatalities and injuries in motor vehicle crashes”, said Corporal Harry Eckman, Rolla Police Traffic Division Supervisor.
For more information on Missouri seat belt usage, please visit www.saveMOlives.com or contact Corporal Harry Eckman at (573) 364-1213.
City offers choices for pick-up of bagged leaves through Dec. 13
For Rolla residents who are deciding how to dispose of their leaves during the fall season, the city offers a couple of alternatives to help make your leaf disposal efforts a little more convenient.
The City of Rolla’s Solid Waste Department will continue to offer pick-up of bagged leaves through Dec. 13, 2008. To receive this service, the leaves must be placed in brown paper biodegradable yard waste bags, which can be purchased at many stores in the area. We also ask that you place your bags to the curb by 6 a.m. so our equipment operators can pick them up on your normal collection day.
This service will be suspended from Dec. 13, 2008 through March 1, 2009. Collection of yard waste (leaves, grass, clippings and small sticks) in brown paper bags will resume on Monday, March 2, 2009. Residents wishing to dispose of these materials during the winter suspension can use the composting facility located at the Phelps County Transfer Station, or arrange for a special pick up for a fee. For more information please call the Solid Waste Department at (573) 364-6693.
Rolla residents can also get their leaves picked up by the Parks and Recreation Department Monday through Friday for a nominal fee through Dec. 15, 2008 (leaves will not be picked up after noon Friday or during weekends and holidays). We just ask that you rake or haul all leaves to the curbside along city streets. No private driveways or private areas will be entered by City vehicles. Per City Ordinance no leaves can be placed in the streets, gutters or ditches. Leaves will be picked up by a large vacuum and deposited into a large dump body and trailer and then taken to the Phelps County Composting Site to be recycled.
New users of this service must pay a $120 refundable deposit or leave a credit card number. The fee is $40 per half hour with the minimum charge of $40, and all fees must be paid within two weeks of the service being completed. Credit card payments (Visa, Master Card & Discover) are preferred. If you wish to use this service, or to get more information, please contact the Parks and Recreation Department at (573) 364-4278.
Residents encouraged to use Household Hazardous Waste Facility
Rolla residents who have household hazardous waste materials such as car batteries, used oil or antifreeze, or other toxic, poisonous or flammable products may dispose of them at the City’s new Household Hazardous Waste Facility. The facility is operated by the City’s Solid Waste Department at the Rolla Recycling Center located off Old St. James Road.
Use of the facility is encouraged by all Rolla residents, however, this is strictly a residential service; business and commercial waste is prohibited. If you are interested in using the facility, we simply ask that you make an appointment by calling the Rolla Recycling Center during normal business hours at (573) 364-6693. Deliveries will be accepted by appointment only. For a complete list of items that will be acceptable to drop off at the facility, please contact the Solid Waste Department at (573) 364-6693 or visit the City’s Website at www.rollacity.org/waste.
The new Household Hazardous Waste facility is open to residents in the Rolla/Phelps County community as well as the Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District (Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Phelps, Pulaski, and Washington counties). There is also a new HHW facility located in the City of St. Robert in Pulaski County.
This service will be more convenient, accessible, and safer for the public and employees alike, and reflects the City of Rolla’s commitment of “going green.”
Rolla Channel 6 airs City Council & Rolla Public Schools board meetings
Rolla Channel 6 (RC6) is airing live Rolla City Council meetings the first and third Monday of the month (6:30 p.m.), as well as several times throughout the week. City Planning & Zoning (P&Z) Commission meetings are also airing live on RC6 the second Tuesday of the month at 5:30 p.m.
Rolla Public Schools (RPS) board meetings also air live on RC6, and will re-air throughout the week as well. Rolla High School Friday night football games air the Sunday following the game at 6 p.m. RC6 will re-air the games frequently throughout the following week or weeks depending on the home schedule. The schedule for all programs will be posted on the RC6 program guide.
Other pre-produced programs currently airing on RC6 include: Missouri Outdoors, After the Storm, Army Newswatch, Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Services (CSREES) Partners Video Magazine, NASA Science Files, World Energy Television, PlaySports TV, Perils for Pedestrians, Road to Recovery and Friends in Discovery.
For more information regarding programming or DVD duplication of Rolla City Council and Rolla Public Schools board meetings, and RHS sporting events, please contact Gabe Mankin, RC6 Video Production Manager, at (573) 426-3377 or at Gabe.Mankin@fidelitycommunications.com.
RC6 is a jointly funded education and government cable channel provided by the City of Rolla, Rolla Public Schools, and Fidelity Cablevision. The mission of RC6 is to enhance the City of Rolla’s and Rolla Public Schools’ public information and communication systems, involve the community in local government and Rolla Public School decision-making, and provide useful information to the public.
Full-color 2008 Aerial photos of Rolla available at City Hall
The 2008 full-color aerial photo of the City of Rolla is available for purchase at the GIS/Mapping Office located in the Public Works Department at Rolla City Hall (901 North Elm Street) in downtown Rolla.
The aerial was flown in January 2008 and is available on 42- x 52-inch photo quality gloss paper. The price is $20 per print. A limited supply of the 2007 black and white aerial photos are also available for a cost of $5.
For more information, or to place your order for an aerial photo of Rolla, please call (573) 364-8659, ext. 033, or stop by City Hall anytime between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
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