Local residents take pride in their community. They want their homes and the town in general to look its best, especially when there is an expected influx of visitors due to come to town.

One concerned citizen said he was surprised at how the local city roadways looked during the recent Smithville Fiddlers’ Jamboree and Crafts Festival. He said that overgrown shoulders, with tall grass and weeds, made the city look bad and set a bad example to the thousands of visitors that came to town during the Fourth of July weekend.

According to the concerned citizen, that grass along Broad Street and Congress Boulevard in Smithville was overgrown and standing nearly shoulder height. He said the City of Smithville should have had the shoulders mowed, especially before tourist arrived for this year’s big event.

“It just makes the city look bad,” he told the Review. “It makes it look like we don’t care, and it should have looked nice when all those visitors were in town.”

When asked about the issue, Smithville Mayor Josh Miller said that he agreed, and the mowing issue this year was due to miscommunications that will be remedied next year. 

He told the Smithville Review that he is aware that the city was late in mowing along the roads this year, and explained that there was some confusion between the city and state as to who should be responsible for mowing along the highways. “It was an oversight,” Miller explained. “We’ve worked it out, and it will be mowed before the festival next year.”

Mayor Miller explained that the city is responsible for mowing along the portions along the state highways where there are curbs and sidewalks, while the state mows parts of the highways with just grassy shoulders. The mix up this year caused a delay in the mowing schedule, resulting in the shoulders being mowed later than intended.

Mayor Miller said that he takes pride in how the city looks to tourists, and that he understands citizen’s concerns this past Jamboree. “We want the city to look its best, and I assure you it will be mowed next year before the Jamboree.”