Commissioners talk trees, murals
Ozark County Courthouse
After a busy weekend of Hootin an Hollarin on the Gainesville square, Ozark County commissioners met Monday with a light agenda during their regular weekly meeting.
Commissioners John Turner, Layne Nance and Gary Collins talked about the festival briefly and then began talking about some follow-up tree trimming that is needed on the courthouse lawn.
Turner said county crews had trimmed back some of the trees before the festival, and while they did a good job, Turner said he would like the county to hire an arborist to shape and prune the trees back a little more away from the courthouse and away from the flags.
“We don’t want the trees to start brushing up against the courthouse or to get any closer to the flags,” Turner said. He said he plans to solicit an arborist who “knows what they’re doing” to come and take care of the trees.
Gary Collins, a longtime commissioner, said he remembers helping plant the maples that are on the courthouse lawn. “I think it was in the early 90s we did that,” Collins said.
Prior to that there were some large elm and berry trees on the courthouse lawn that had not been managed, and they were damaging the sidewalks and retaining wall and had to be removed.
In a related discussion about beautification, County Clerk Brian Wise said he had been thinking more about the idea of murals being painted on the square since a recent discussion he and the commissioners had on the subject.
Wise said, if it was OK with the commissioners, he would like to take the reins and do some research on the possibility of getting some murals that would illustrate the beauty and history of Ozark County on a couple of the buildings on the square.
“I’d like to look into this and see what I can find out,” Wise said. He said murals in Mountain Home, Arkansas, and West Plains and other towns have really added to the appeal of downtown areas.
Ozark County commissioners meet every Monday morning at 9 a.m. on the second floor of the Ozark County Courthouse. The meetings are open to the public.