|
State of the City I
appreciate the opportunity provided by the Rochester Kiwanis Club to deliver the
annual State of the City address in a public forum. I truly hope this will be a
tradition that will continue for many years to come. It is a real service to the
community. It
would be nice if the room was filled to overflowing but unfortunately it does
not happen that way at local government meetings. This points out the importance
of the media in getting information out to citizens, not only today but each and
every day. We should all appreciate the time and effort of the media in
gathering information on our community and getting it to us in a timely manner. .
The City of Economic
Development is one area I feel we need to do more. This has been a difficult
year in part due to the general economy and in part due to the financial
condition of city utilities. I had hoped to be able to proceed with sanitary
sewer services on the Blacketor land on East 4th Street but the City just did
not have the money and for the most part neither did several of the other
partners expanding in that area. I hope before this year is over, working
together, we are in a position to provide sanitary sewer service to that area. We
are really at a disadvantage for economic development until we have some type
Industrial or The
services of Workforce Development have been available to We
have started to move from manufacturing to electronic technology as Rochester
Telephone is providing fiber optic and DSL service. WTH, a computer mapping
company, is close to opening here in The
City of The
City Council has decided we should proceed with the new Fire Station now. I have
some concerns about that. In four years we have accumulated over $500,000.00 for
the construction of the station, the thought was to be able to build a station
without adding an additional burden on the taxpayers. I understand why the
council would like to proceed now but we really need to see exactly where we
stand financially. At the request of the Council facts and figures are being
gathered now. We have met with representatives of
H. J. Umbaugh, our financial consultant, as a first step.
In
addition to the financial aspect we need to determine the location. If we do
have enough land in the present location I cannot imagine placing the Fire
Station somewhere else but all this will be investigated and the facts presented
to the City Council. If it is not located where it is now we will have land
costs and I assume demolition costs in addition to construction costs. We
continue to work on our storm water problems. The City had approved the
formation of a Stormwater Board but this was before the state allowed us to
establish a Rainy Day Fund. I do not want to add additional taxes or user fees
on the citizens if we can find another way to fund the projects. The city
received $40,000.00 from Riverboat gambling this year. This should be more than
enough to take care of the problem on I
feel we have an opportunity to address our storm water problems with the use of
funds that will become available without adding an additional burden on our
citizens. Annexation
is an area of importance to the City Council. We will take up with the plans,
which were interrupted by law due to the census. The first areas will be
GasAmerica, the area around the An
over view of 2003 shows the Police Department in good shape. We have a staff of
experienced officers and dispatchers. Officers are trained and specialize in
various areas of crime and substance abuse. The result of this experience is
seen in service to citizens and a low crime rate. Vehicles are rotated on a
regular basis, which has been beneficial for budget purposes. The one item we
are going to have to face in the next coupled of years will be the computer
Police Software. This will be a three (3) way split between the City, County and
911. The challenge with the software, which is 13 years old, is in keeping it
compatible with new technology. We
have tried to replace equipment in the Street Department on a regular basis so
we do not end up with several pieces to be replaced at the same time. In the
next year we will start replacing the larger two-ton dump trucks. We need the
larger trucks for snow plowing but have supplemented the fleet with smaller one
ton trucks for yard waste pick up as well as efficiency. The department works
well within its budget and we do not see any major expenses that cannot be
worked into the budget in the next several years. We are looking into the cost
of an additional building so all trucks and equipment can be kept under roof. In
times like these I view the parks as a necessity. The Parks, The
purchase of the golf carts several years ago is starting to provide benefits.
The carts will be replaced this year as planned and we also have funds from the
revenues to renovate the Round Barn for use as a Pro Shop, renovate a building
for cart maintenance and continue to keep Mill Creek Golf Course one of the best
Municipal Courses in the state. It
had been discussed that at some point a public beach on The
news is not so good from the City Utilities. We will be looking at rate
increases in both the Water and Wastewater Departments this year. It is too
early to determine percentages or estimates but we have already had preliminary
meetings with H. J. Umbaugh, our financial consultant. The City: Police, Fire
and Street; operates under a five percent maximum increase each year so we can
keep up with increases in costs and expenses. The utilities need rate increases
to cover these increases, which are not done on an annual basis. The
Water Department is looking to modernize their meter reading procedure. The
softeners, which are the original softeners from the 1930’s, need to be
replaced. The water towers downtown and on The
Wastewater Department has seen a decline in sewage treated by the plant for the
past several years, which also means less revenue; this has been coupled with
increased costs. General maintenance and upkeep of the system and plant over the
next few years could result in expenses of near $2,500.000.00. A good portion of
this would be to line sanitary lines in I
do hope in some manner we can include funds for expansion and extension of
lines. We do have our Economic Development Funds but I also feel the utilities
should be able to provide some assistance in these areas as well.
I
am looking forward to another good year for the City of The
City of I
am pleased and proud to be a part of that change and improvement and look
forward to seeing you again next year as we discuss the progress we have made in
2004 and continue to plan for our future. |