Forest Park details public-works projects and procurement KPIs; city center and Star Park construction ongoing

Forest Park public-works and finance leaders provided updates on capital projects, staffing and procurement during the city’s community leadership meeting.

Public Works Director Matthews said the department onboarded two staff members — one fleet position and one building‑maintenance technician — and reported ongoing right‑of‑way maintenance ahead of leaf season. Matthews said the city’s dog park remained under construction and expected to be completed next week; Theater Park will receive a new pavilion and crews will begin landscaping the Forest Parkway medians from the city limits near the farmers market southward. Matthews said a Linden Way sidewalk project is about 60% complete.

Finance Director Wiggins said construction on a new city center and work at Star Park remain in active planning and that officials expect a groundbreaking ceremony forthcoming; he deferred details about timing to the interim city manager. Wiggins also reported procurement metrics for August: roughly 100 purchase orders processed and 2,424 new vendors added to the city’s vendor registration system. Wiggins said the finance office is filling a tax specialist position and plans to recruit a senior staff accountant.

Why it matters: the projects describe visible changes to public facilities and streetscapes, and procurement figures signal administrative throughput related to ongoing capital work. Officials did not provide final project budgets, funding sources or firm groundbreaking dates during the meeting.

Additional details: Matthews warned residents to expect temporary construction impacts as median landscaping begins; no road‑closure schedules or contractor names were announced.