Columbia honors first responders and new Army recruits; parks department wins national economic-impact award

The City of Columbia council on Feb. 12 paused its regular agenda to recognize public safety and public works personnel for their response to a recent ice and snowstorm, to honor a class of Army recruits and to accept a national economic impact award for the parks department.

Mayor (name not specified) led appreciation for Columbia Power and Water Systems, Columbia Police Department and Columbia Fire and Rescue for storm response. Jeff Dwire of public works said crews worked 12-hour shifts and applied about 400 tons of salt, treating roughly 480 lane miles across the city during the event. "We put down about 400 tons of salt in either in soft brine, liquid fashion, or granulated. And we treat about 480 lane miles, I believe it is, citywide," Dwire said.

Ryan Massey of CPWS described system outages immediately after the storm and credited staff members, including Jeff Clark and Kyle Patrick, who delayed retirement to assist with the response.

The council also recognized a group from the local Army recruiting office. Sergeant First Class Ryan Spiller and recruiters were thanked for their work; the council presented certificates to recruits including Ethan Bilo, Austin Spires, Duncan Gabbitt, Orban McGarity, Michael Malone, Wesley Mitchell, Aaron Hollenbeck, Joseph Daniels and Gabriel Meredith.

Parks and Recreation staff accepted the Champions of Economic Impact award from Sports Destination Management. A Parks representative said PGF (Girls Fast Pitch) events alone were estimated at about $3.2 million per tournament and that total event impact at Ridley for the year was approximately $22 million. "The dollar the estimated dollar amount from PGF alone was about $3,200,000 per tournament...the total economic impact was about $22,000,000," the presenter said.

Will Evans presented the economic development dashboard, noting the city is tracking 20 active projects and that Murray County's December 2025 unemployment rate was 5.7%. Evans said parts of that monthly increase reflected a General Motors shutdown in December and that the city will continue to monitor employment trends. He also noted the city's economic development budget was increased by about 22% following a recent capital campaign.

The recognitions closed with applause and a group photograph for first responders; council thanked staff for cross-department coordination during the storm and celebrated the parks department’s role in bringing tourism-related events to the city.

The council then returned to the regular agenda.