An effort is underway to clean up the area in House Springs that gave the town its name.
A slimy pond at highways MM and 30 that once was filled with clear spring water but later was taken over by runoff from local businesses and developments has been excavated to uncover the source of the spring there, said Julie Schwarz, executive director of the Northwest Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce.
“We’re just trying to beautify it,” Schwarz said. “We’re just trying to make it look prettier, because right now it’s just an eyesore.”
Schwarz said that is going to change.
“The nasty water is going to run elsewhere,” she said. “The spring water that’s actually coming in is nice and clean and pretty. So eventually, it’s going to be a very nice little pond with a walking path.”
The area with the pond had been a county park since 2008, but the County Council agreed in November to sell the 0.83-acre property for $10 to House Springs Preservation Inc., a nonprofit group formed by surrounding businesses.
That group has agreed to let the chamber maintain the area.
Schwarz said she doesn’t know how much it will cost to make all the improvements the chamber would like to see in the area, but $14,050 has been raised for the project, and about $7,000 of that already has been used to excavate the pond and add new plants.
“It’s kind of all a waiting game to see what we’re really going to spend on it,” she said.
Chamber president Danny Tuggle said he hopes to have the project completed by the end of 2022.
As of Oct. 8, about 150 seedlings and native plants had been planted in the area. In addition, 120 daylilies were planted, and mulch was added to the outer bank of the pond. An American flag donated by the Rotary Club of High Ridge has been put on display there.
As part of the transfer of the pond property to House Springs Preservation Inc., the Jefferson County Council approved a conditional-use permit to allow a medical marijuana dispensary to be built on a 1.06-acre parcel at 3 Walters Place off highways MM and 30.
Nirvana Bliss III LLC of Fenton, run by Bernard Goethe, had received state approval for the dispensary and had applied with the county’s Planning Department for a required conditional-use permit for the undeveloped lot.
However, the county could not approve the permit because its zoning order prohibits medical marijuana facilities from being located within 1,000 feet of a school, daycare center, church or public park. To get around that problem, the Jefferson County Council sold the park.