About a dozen people showed up for Newton Mayor Randy Ervin’s first “Chat With The Mayor” event at the Grey Moon Public Market on Thursday. Topics ranged from the signage in front of the newly renovated building, to the 16-field indoor/outdoor tournament softball complex that was first announced in August 2019. Mayor Ervin told those gathered that two meetings are scheduled with the developers of that project within the coming week. He also restated his belief that the Newton Rail Park will be a big benefit for the community, and how it will create another city need.

“As you know, the Newton Rail Park is the next big thing. It has the opportunity to grow the city quite a bit.  I think you have to have housing. It doesn’t do us any good to get new industries and businesses if people have to live out of town, and drive to town to go to work. So housing is a big piece, and we have been working on that pretty steadily.”

The next Chat with Newton Mayor Randy Ervin will be Saturday, February 28th, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Newton Public Library.