A note from O’Fallon Mayor Herb Roach: Upcoming events

With the weather improving, more children will be out playing and riding their bikes around town. PLEASE SLOW DOWN and be observant when driving. It will only take you another minute or two to reach your destination and most accidents will be avoided.

With that said, I just wanted to share some of the things happening in the city that are ongoing or about to start. Most of these should be of interest to you and your neighbors.

1. Day Light Savings time starts Sunday, March 12. Please remember to check the batteries in your smoke detectors.
2. The O’Fallon City Council Candidates Forum is at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 16. Candidates in each contested race will have a chance to present their ideas.
3. The Parks & Recreation Department has several different types of positions open for summer. The city is the largest youth employer in the area, and we have lots of open jobs for first-time job seekers. Please refer to the city’s website — www.ofallon.org — to find the job postings.
4. Registrations for summer sports programs and summer camps are underway.
5. Additional lighting is being planned for the Downtown District and O’Fallon Station.
6. Our EMS Department is planning to add another fully staffed unit to better serve our growing community.
7. The Downtown Market will kick off their season with some Micro-Markets in March and April and start the full Market on Saturday, May 13.
8. The VFW will hold the .1K Run Saturday, April 1, downtown.
9. The hard work of our city staff paid big dividends with the recent award from the governor of a $600,000 OSLAD Grant for the construction of the new pool at the Community Park.
10. The Family Sports Park will be busy this spring, summer and fall with soccer, baseball, softball, flag football, lacrosse and ultimate frisbee. A very full schedule put together by Parks Director Andrew Dallner and the staff.

We continue to look ahead at new things for the city and anticipate some more announcements in the months ahead.

As residents of O’Fallon, you should always be able to reach out to your elected officials and ask questions about what is happening in O’Fallon. Having open communications is important to me and something I care very deeply about. Thank you for reading, and please remember, my door is always open.