Improving interactions with local businesses and builders is a major focus of the Warrenton five-year plan approved by city leaders this month.Every year, the city updates a five-year strategic plan that provides direction and vision for future projects.Some parts of the plan can be accomplished within a year, while others are more long term.Updates this year were announced during a Warrenton Board of Aldermen meeting March 20.Closer communication with downtown business owners returned as a focus this year. Warrenton Director of Operations Terri Thorn said the city has been working to address improvements and safety along Main Street.City staff this year have already created a new public parking lot at Market Street and East Oak Street, and installed new streetlights behind a number of downtown businesses.Staff members this year are preparing an informational mailer for different interest groups to keep them informed of changes and things going on in the city, Thorn said.The board of aldermen also has appointed members to regularly meet with the Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce and Warrenton Downtown Association.Beyond that, Warrenton city leaders are looking for ways to streamline new businesses and home builders coming to the city by potentially speeding up the process for issuing permits.Thorn explained one step would be to bring various regulating groups together to meet with a new business, rather than making the business owner seek those groups out.“We talked about putting together a committee that would be made up of fire, utilities, MoDOT and city staff that would be able to meet with potential businesses that want to come into the city,” she said. “Kind of a one-stop shop so that they’re getting all the information at one point as they start that process.”Additionally, Thorn highlighted sidewalk projects along North and South Highway 47 as important objectives. Sidewalks on South Highway 47 will be completed as much as possible within the next year, she said, while the north side project has been contracted to an engineering firm.“It will be a fairly lengthy process, but we have started in that direction,” Thorn said.New park nameThe city of Warrenton has decided on a name for its 39-acre park that will soon be home to a new aquatic center, dog park, disc golf course and other amenities.The official new name: Warrenton Pool Park.“I think we need to keep the name as generic as we can in case there’s a situation where we have to rename or want to rename the park sometime in the future for someone or something that has great significance to the community,” said Ward 2 Alderman Gary Auch. “If you tie the name down to something where people have ownership of it, that’s going to be harder to do.”The rest of the board of aldermen generally agreed with Auch, with only Ward 2 Alderman Scott Schulze voting against the name.City of Warrenton logo