Neighborhood Works Plus program seeks project ideas 

Last edited 3:04 p.m., Dec. 12, 2025 [Editor's note: Contract amount added.]

The city of Springfield is moving immediately on neighborhood investments on the potential for $5 million being released for projects in registered neighborhoods starting in fiscal 2027, which begins July 1, 2026. 

A meeting last night at the Greene County Archives and Elections Center introduced the Neighborhood Works Plus program, which aims to deliver improvements to Springfield neighborhoods with registered associations. Officials say the program includes partnerships with the city’s Public Works, Planning and Development and Public Information departments. 

Brett Foster, assistant director of Public Works, said in the past the city would spend $800,000 to $1.2 million across a five-year period for the Neighborhood Works program, but the potential $5 million allocation would cover a two-year period – an exciting thing, he said. 

“We want to accelerate that process,” he said. “We want to gather bigger ideas, more ideas, and try to really get those on the ground as fast as we can.”An idea submission form, available online and on paper, notes city staff will identify priority projects to improve livability, safety and neighborhood pride. 

Asked if there are any criteria for selecting projects, Kristen Milam, the city’s communication coordinator, said there are three general standards: readiness, feasibility and community value. 

City committees will be reviewing proposals as they come in now through Jan. 31, and criteria for evaluating them will emerge as the process goes along, according to Milam. 

“We don’t really know what’s going to happen here, so we’re very excited to see what comes in,” she said. 

Milam indicated the city wants to spread the projects throughout the city, and multiple submissions of the same project won’t give it any more weight than another. 

“We want to get a bunch of different ideas located all over the place,” she said. “It’s not a competition.” 

Milam said the city wants to focus on construction-type projects rather than programmatic ones. Submissions should pinpoint locations of proposed projects and a thorough description of the idea. 

“Get creative,” she said, noting if an idea does not work in a location, there might be another way to achieve its goal. 

Foster, with Public Works, said the city would be asking for ideas of things to improve in neighborhoods, and then it would piece together projects with help from the Neighborhood Advisory Council. 

The funds are not for parks improvements, he said, but for right-of-way and street improvements as well as other ideas that arise in neighborhoods. 

“As we go faster, this is going to be a revolving process,” he said. “We won’t wait to have all the projects selected for the full $5 million. … We’re going to look for some low-hanging fruit.” 

Foster introduced two people who would be coordinating the project: Brian Sayre, a city construction inspector and surveyor, and Dane Seiler, an engineer with Traffic Engineering Consultants Inc., contracted by the city for help with the project. The contract with TEC is valued at $158,075.

Speaking at the meeting, Seiler said the city has been working for a month to get the program off the ground. 

Gathering ideas is the first phase of the program, Seiler said, and the second phase will be to assemble some projects, with neighborhood workshops planned. A NAC subcommittee will help to develop criteria and evaluate projects. 

A tiered list of projects will be submitted to the Citizens’ Advisory Board and ultimately to City Council, with construction to follow in mid to late summer, Seiler said. 

Seiler showed four slides with ideas for the kinds of projects that are sought. 

Speeding is a frequent concern, and a slide showed some remediations that could be paid for through the program. Options pictured were lane narrowing, speed cushions, roundabouts, access control, chicanes, corner hardening, curb extensions and diverters. 

Infrastructure ideas pictured were for maintenance, alleyway improvements, water quality improvements, filling sidewalk gaps, work on medians or curbs and gutters, intersection improvements and streetlight installation. 

Some placemaking suggestions were for plantings, benches, water quality and landscaping, enhanced crosswalks, street trees and neighborhood art. 

Pedestrian connection suggestions included rapid flashing traffic beacons, curb ramps, raised crosswalks, trail connections and high-intensity crosswalks. 

Sign-in sheets showed 42 people were in attendance at last night’s meeting. 

The online submission form for Neighborhood Works Plus projects is located at SpringfieldMo.gov/NWplus. 

The CAB signaled at its Nov. 19 meeting that it wants the city to allocate $5 million for community and neighborhood projects in fiscal 2027 from the Spring Forward SGF tax. The CAB has not yet voted to recommend that expenditure to City Council, which controls the city’s budget. 

The eight-member CAB exists to recommend projects to be funded from the half-cent portion of a three-quarter-cent sales tax, called Spring Forward SGF, approved by voters in November 2024, according to the CAB portion of the city’s website. The funds, to be collected for a decade, are for projects that are in line with the city’s comprehensive plan, Forward SGF. 

City Council will consider an expenditure of separate funds from Spring Forward SGF with a first reading at its meeting Dec. 15. The CAB voted at its Nov. 19 meeting to recommend a $1 million allocation of Spring Forward SGF tax funds, half of which would go toward the creation of neighborhood plans for the 24 neighborhoods that do not have one. The other $500,000 was recommended to formulate master plans for five parks: Fassnight, Grant Beach, Nathanael Greene/Close Memorial, Sequiota and Silver Springs.  

Neighborhoods whose already-adopted plans are available on the city’s website include Midtown, Phelps Grove, Rountree and West Central.