City accomplishments for 2024

Whoa! I’m in recovery mode today! You see, Cathy and I had the grandsons over for not just one night this weekend, but two. We had a great time! The older of the two has become a Seattle Seahawks fan. So, we started off by watching the Seattle Seahawks beat the Chicago Bears in a 6 to 3 victory. We did it right by having chips and salsa, cookies, and soda to snack on. It was fun teaching him things about the game such as the difference between a kickoff, a field goal, a point after, and a punt. They are all kicks, but for different purposes.

 We also worked on building rockets; the kind where you place a small solid fuel tube in the bottom and shoot them up about 1,000 feet or higher. 

 We had a lesson on how electricity “flows” by completing circuits. Also, Grandma and the younger one put together a solar powered spinner that was fun to play with. The boys got to see first-hand the power in sunlight. They also saw that as soon as the sun started to go behind a cloud, the spinning slowed and then stopped. We had other activities as well that wore us out and warmed our hearts.  

 The boys and I no longer “wrestle” and roughhouse. They have grown enough that now grandpa would probably get seriously hurt instead of the other way around. However, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t as much fun to be with. It’s just a matter of figuring out where their interests and curiosities lie and nudging them along.

 Well, on to City business.

 As I said in a previous article, the City’s outside activities slow down at this time of year. The various crews are in the maintenance mode of going through equipment and making sure it will be up to speed for the coming year. 

 With that in mind, I thought I would take a moment and just go through a few of the accomplishments from 2024. This is by no means a comprehensive list.

 One of the bigger projects was a $1.5 million rehabilitation of a 50-year-old water tower. The rehabilitation brings it into an “as new” condition that should last another 50 years. A new same-size water tower would have cost approximately $7.5 million. 

 A new sidewalk was poured for most of the route from the high school down to the golf course and then to the bottom of the hill on State Street. The funds came from a grant for safe pathways to schools. The City has received another grant to complete the pathway to downtown and over to Memorial Park during 2025.

 The main playground equipment in Memorial Park was removed and replaced with new equipment. I had the pleasure of reading with third graders within days after it had been installed. They had all been to the park to test it out. 

 Your water department was recognized as the Idaho Water System of the year for efficiency and operating standards!

 The entire crew at the wastewater department tested and advanced in their certifications.

 Two more street department employees were recognized by the State for completing the “Roads Scholar” certifications.

 The library had a phenomenal year with 44,478 people passing through the doors and 45,954 items checked out! If you stop to calculate that the library is open 6 days a week (not taking off for holidays) that is over 140 people and items per day. Wow!

 The parks department has worked to continue making the parks more ADA accessible with an ADA compliant sidewalk to the covered picnic area. 

 The police department is now fully staffed for the first time in seven years.

 Inside the office, technology has been upgraded with phone, billing, security, etc. The City has a new webpage.

 Also, all personnel policies have been completely overhauled.

 The City adopted a comprehensive plan for the first time since 1999.

 Other than that, it has been a pretty slow year.

 Well, that’s it for this week. 2024 sure seemed to go by quickly! I hope you have an incredibly Happy and Prosperous 2025!