LID approved to help fix up or install curb, gutter, and sidewalks

Friday morning, I walked into the office and there was a small package addressed to me on my desk. It might come as a surprise, but I actually get very little mail as mayor. (I get a lot of junk e-mail, but not much snail mail.) So, I was cautiously curious in opening the package.  

 It turned out to be a memoir about Ruth Burley, a former Weiser resident. Ruth was born here in 1911 and spent her childhood through young adult life as a Weiserite. 

 The memoir had been found by Ruth’s grandson after her passing. The grandson, Steve, sat on the manuscript for a number of years before he decided to read it. As he read it, Steve discovered that his grandmother was a much more interesting person than he had thought and decided to publish her story.   

 Cathy and I have already started reading the book. From what little we have read, it sounds like it will be more than worthwhile.

 In the accompanying letter, Ms. Burley’s grandson said he had visited Weiser a couple of weeks ago from his home in California. He described Weiser as “wonderful” and he “thoroughly enjoyed my visit to your city. It’s a vibrant prosperous town which clearly appreciates and preserves its past.”  

 Steve then talked about places he had visited and was especially impressed with the Snake River Heritage Center where he left a couple of the books.  Steve went on to say how friendly everyone was. And Steve is right!  Weiser is all of these things.

 I don’t know about you, but I appreciate getting an outside perspective of Weiser every once in a while. Almost every time, I hear how special the town and people are! Thank You! Everyone! for making Weiser such a great place to live, work, and play.  You are special!

 Now, it’s time to talk about the City’s business.

 In Monday night’s City Council meeting, the Council approved an agreement titled the Weiser Firefighting and Life Preservation Service Agreement. This document serves as the basis for providing fire and rescue service to Weiser and the surrounding area by one department, rather than separate departments for the City and the Rural. At the time of this writing and submission for print, the Rural Fire District Board has not met for their regular meeting to also approve the document. Therefore, I will hold off on discussing the terms until next week, but I just want to let everyone know that an agreement has been reached and should be signed very soon.  

 Also, a few weeks ago I discussed the possibility of forming a Local Improvement District (LID) to allow you homeowners the option to voluntarily fix up or install curb, gutter, and sidewalks to your home and pay for it through your taxes over time. Well, at Monday’s City Council meeting, the Council approved the formation of the LID. There are many more steps to go through before concrete can be poured, such as formal formation of the District, conferring with bond council, drafting an ordinance, getting word out to all households, accepting bids from contractors, etc.  Hopefully, this is a significant first step to improving the sidewalk system in Weiser. 

 Well, that’s it for this week. Cathy and I will be letting you know how we like the memoir. If the preface is any indication, it promises to be good!