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KIRKSVILLE, MO. -- The city of  Kirksville was honored for its work in community betterment on Monday.

Kirksville received the Category VI Missouri Community Betterment Award in October. Monday the Missouri Community Betterment Executive Director traveled to Kirksville to give the award to city leaders.

State Rep. Rebecca McClanahan also presented a resolution from the House of Representative recognizing the city for its outstanding work.

“Citizens here in Kirksville are so committed to improving the quality of life and focusing on projects that really improve this community. And so this is really just the frosting on the cake, recognition by an independent group that we are making those kinds of efforts,” said McClanahan.

A committee led by Harriet Beard and Annette Sweet put together the presentation that won Kirksville the award. It highlighted five local projects including Highway 63, the Kirksville Arts Association, the Human Identification Technologies DNA lab, the Kirksville Skate Park and the community recovery effort following this summer's tornadoes.

McClanahan say work is continuing on the HIT DNA lab project, it's just more behind-the-scenes.

“It's not quite as much in the foreground at this point, but work is continuing. I continue to be very hopeful that the funding will be accumulated for that project, and I know there are a lot of local individuals that have stepped forward and made the decision to invest in that business,” she said.

For more information on the Missouri Community Betterment Award click here.