Support E. Commercial St. businesses as road construction will begin soon

Wow! Right now is one of those times when you come back to work to rest up. 

 Last week involved driving to Tacoma for a memorial service for Cathy’s sister, driving home Monday (which is why I did not have an item for last week’s paper) being in Caldwell Tuesday morning to sit on the Third District Magistrate Commission to interview and hire a magistrate judge. Wednesday involved a doctor’s appointment and actually showing up at City Hall to work. Thursday was spent in Eagle at a rather intense five-hour medical appointment with tests. And Friday involved another medical appointment, picking up grandsons to have them spend the night, a meeting with the library board, and then a meeting at Weiser Memorial Hospital. Whew! I need another nap just thinking about it!

 For those of you who may not know, I have had some medical issues over the last year that have kept me from working optimally. The good news is that I am getting better. The appointment last week was very optimistic. Please keep Cathy and me in your thoughts and prayers that progress continues to be made. In the meantime, we will keep plugging away.

 Now to update you on City happenings.

 Next week, if you are driving down East Commercial Street, you will probably see signs going up to alert you that the construction project to rebuild the road between State Street and E. 3rd Street is beginning. Actual construction will begin the first week of April. The project is expected to take about three months. The construction company will keep at least one lane of traffic open as much as possible, but of course for brief periods the road will need to close entirely. 

 The businesses located on this stretch will remain open. Please go out of your way to patronize these businesses during construction. They are a valuable part of our community, and we want to make sure they are part of the community for years to come. Road construction can negatively impact businesses. Please do your part to help.

 The same construction company that will be working on East Commercial Street will also be completing the construction of the Indianhead sidewalk project. This will involve constructing a retaining wall and installing sidewalk in front of the seminary next to Weiser High School, extending the sidewalk from the base of the hill on State Street to the Christian Church, and branching the sidewalk over to Memorial Park. This will leave just a one-block area left to be completed in order to have a sidewalk loop from the downtown to Memorial Park, to the high school, over to W. 9th Street, and back downtown. 

 On another note, if you are curious about the structure going up in Memorial Park by the tennis courts and playground, this will be a covered meeting area for families and gatherings which is funded by a grant from the Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation. There will be more on this later.

 Also, it appears the City will be receiving funding to install sidewalk from Park School to the Soccer Complex and over to the Forest Service Office, which is the Park School emergency meeting point.

 All of these projects have been funded by grants without any matching funding from the City. 

 Now for expenses without grants. 

 The City will be taking possession of a new garbage truck next month. With twice a week instead of once-a-week pickups the trucks wear out in half the time. (I think there is a mathematical principle there somewhere.) So, a new truck is in order.

 Also, the water department is preparing to put the infrastructure in place to run a water main from the south end of W. 9th Street, then under the railroad track, and connecting to the main at County Road 70. This will loop that section of the water system to help provide continuous pressure in the event of an emergency or break in the line.

 Well, that’s it for this week. If you come into City Hall in the next few days, I hope you don’t catch me napping. Have a great week!