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State of the City
Community involvement, working together for the betterment of the City of
. We took the annual planning session to the public as we developed a simple questionnaire. Our real goals are to serve the wants and needs of the citizens but first we have to verify that we know what those wants and needs are. I anticipate a similar type program this year, in part for planning and in part to fine tune the comprehensive plan. I am glad to see the involvement
of the City Council in the different boards, commissions, citizens groups and
the community. We have made real progress in this area in the past few years and
it is very beneficial to all. I appreciate the additional hours each of you put
in attending meetings, working on ordinances and visiting with citizens.
I am thankful for the good working relationship the City of
The Rochester Retail Merchants deserve our thanks and support as they
sponsored Halloween Festivities and a Christmas Open House for all of This year the Wastewater Treatment
Plant received the second place award from the Environmental Protection Agency
in Region V. The reason this was so impressive to me was that in 1988 the City
of
The Wastewater Treatment Department and Air-Vac play host to visitors
from all parts of
The In 2000 we did make a few changes to the City Clean-up Program, but this past year worked out even worse than preceding years. The original thought was to have part time employees for a week or two in April, May, June and July. The part time employees started the first of April and were still with us at the end of November. We spent the entire Summer on City Clean-up with little else getting accomplished. We really need to look at the clean-up program to see exactly what the problems are. A few years ago we picked up 50 tons of trash, this year we picked up 262 tons of trash, this does not include the metals and tires that are picked up separately and recycled. I do feel this program has a lot of merit and is very worthwhile but it really needs a good review and overhaul. We still have a need for a new Fire Station and with the Capital Improvement plan we, and all citizens, can see what the plans are for the new Fire Station. The importance of this is that we have a written plan for all to see, that does not mean or insure the plan will be followed to the letter. It must be reviewed every year and adjusted from time to time but at least we are setting a definite plan for the future. I hope this is only a start and that this year a Capital Improvement Plan for storm sewers can be set in place. Carla Zartman, the Clerk-Treasurer, did an outstanding job this year with investments both in the City General Funds and the Water and Wastewater Utilities. The Department Heads did a good job of staying within their budgets. Appropriations for the year were in the amount of $2,001,866.65 while spending was held to $1,709,367.10; this is 15% under the budgeted amounts. This was accomplished in the face of several additional expenses and while trying to establish sufficient cash balances to carry us from one tax payment to the next.
The report from the Building Commissioner shows income from fees at
$18,412.00 which is the lowest in the past five years. The report for the most
part shows continued and steady growth for the City of
Overall this has been another good year. We have accomplished a lot but
there is still much that can be done to continue to make
Philip E. Thompson, Mayor
City of
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