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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017 State of the City AddressCHUBBUCK STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS 2017 MAYOR KEVIN ENGLAND 2016 was a banner year for the City of Chubbuck. it is going to be difficult to put into words and on paper all that has happened and do it justice. I am quite sure it cannot be done, but I will do my best. It has been a year of change and growth. Let us begin with the work that is being done on our streets and roads. We did a Micro -Surface Overlay on 9 miles of our streets this season at a cost of $300,000. This puts us in line with our plan to do maintenance on all of our streets on a 7 year cycle. Engineers tell us that on this plan our streets will maintain indefinitely. With continued efforts we have increased our street maintenance budget by 10 times what it was 5 years ago. This bodes very well for the future condition of our streets. Many of our roads have deteriorated to the point that we cannot just maintain them, but rather we have to replace them. Replacement of streets has a much higher price tag to it than maintaining them. This was our 3 rd year of replacing streets with our most ambitious project to date. We replaced approximately 1.5 miles of roadway and sidewalk in the entire Stuart Subdivision. This was at a cost of 2.4 million dollars. If you do the math you will see that 2.4 million dollars would be enough money to put a Micro- Surface Overlay on all of the streets in the entire city. This is why we have committed the needed dollars to appropriately maintain our streets well into the future so that the cost of replacement can be avoided. The Chubbuck Development Authority has made street replacement a priority in their planned projects for the next few years. A big thank you is in order for the men and women that have served, as well as those who presently serve, on that board for their commitment and vision for the City. We are also well on the way to a revitalization of Stuart Park. It will surely bring beauty with many opportunities for family and group activities. With this effort we are adding a Splash Pad to Stuart Park. This is an amenity that many have asked for and are anxiously awaiting its opening. Next we will be reinvesting in the Country Acres Subdivision, which is around Cotant Park, with roadway upgrades. We are looking forward to this opportunity. The CDA and Chubbuck City Council have adopted the Pine Ridge Urban Renewal Plan. The new owners, Farmer Holding Company, plan to invest 65 million dollars into the Pine Ridge site. These new owners have been a joy to work with and have made a great start on their commitment to revitalize the Pine Ridge Mail. Their attitude is not if but when as to this revitalization effort. The commitment from the CDA and Council will help expedite their efforts. The City has hired Bridger Morrison as our City Engineer. He brings with him professional qualifications that have reduced our consulting fees by close to $200,000. He provides in house design of roadway projects, small water, sewer and drainage upgrades. He also provides support to commercial and residential development projects which is hard to put a dollar value on but extremely valuable especially with the growth that we have experienced and plan to continue experiencing. Our Clerks Office has long been tasked with the job of managing our Human Resources. This last year we brought on Scott Gurnmersall to be our Human Resources Director. Scott brings a wealth of experience and knowledge with him to the city. Along with the regular day to day needs that an H.R. Director manages, we tasked Scott with helping us get a handle on our Health Insurance and Wellness program. Scott worked closely with the Council and with the changes that were made, Scott and the City Council saved the city tens of thousands of dollars. Scott also has over seen the long needed cleaning up and rewriting of our Personnel Policy. There are other major projects in the works and we are fortunate to have Scott. With both of these new hires it was wonderful to see the quality of people who applied to work for the City of Chubbuck. Many talented and qualified men and women sought these positions and we believe that we got the cream of the crop. It was also wonderful to see how highly this city was thought of and spoken of by all of these candidates as they were interviewed. Keeping up with Information Technology is always a challenge. In the world we live in it is a must to keep up with that challenge. We have contracted with Sollus Information Systems to help keep us up to date with technology. They have been wonderful to work with and in the months they have been on board have helped us upgrade and have the ability to take full advantage of these invaluable tools. Now for some reports about building and development in the city. Engineering has processed 147 new residential lots this year. The Building Department issued 64 residential permits for a total valuation of $7,216,000 and 33 commercial permits for a total valuation of $16,773,000. These numbers represent the best that we have seen this decade. Many more great people made Chubbuck their home this year. We welcome them. Idaho Central Credit Union continues to be a major player in our community. They are building a second building on their campus with others to follow. The landscaping plan that they have begun will be a beautiful addition at the entry of our city. They are very supportive and active in community events and we are grateful to have them as a neighbor. Thank you Idaho Central for your leadership and commitment to Chubbuck. Allstate continues to grow and hire. They met their contractual obligations to the city in 2016 which is a blessing to both Allstate and Chubbuck. They are a pleasure to have as a partner and neighbor. We look forward to a long term relationship with Allstate. Water is always a big issue for any city and we are no exception. We have secured some good water rights over the last several years. Usage is increasing along with our growth which is to be expected. Seeing that we have a sufficient supply of water to meet this increased demand is a constant challenge. Last summer we came very close to capacity with our delivery system. We have just completed the work to bring Well #2 online which will provide system redundancy. We are in the process of bringing a new Well, which will be Well #6, online. This will provide a new storage tank and distribution system and much needed relief to the existing system. Our Police Department responded to 7100 calls this year. That is with 13 patrol officers and 2 animal control officers. This year the Mayor and Council approved the hiring of 2 additional officers. One has been hired and the other will start this month. We are grateful to Chief Severe and his leadership team for interviewing and finding the very best as they do the hiring. Finding these qualified and willing individuals to become part of our police force insures our citizens the highest quality of service when they have contact with the police. A few years ago, for varied reasons, we found it necessary to discontinue the D.A.R.E. program in our elementary schools. This year we were able to send an officer to the D.A.R.E. training program and are resuming this valuable program. There has been significant change at our Fire Department this year. Chief Eric King resigned as our Fire Chief and we hired our Assistant Fire Chief, Merlin Miller, as an interim Fire Chief. After a review of Chief Miller's performance we are now ready to hire him as our Fire Chief effective January 8 th . He has proven to be the right leader for our Fire Department. In 2016 there were 1201 emergency responses by our firefighters. 852 for Emergency Medical Services and 349 for Fire related services. We met a long time desire and need this year in hiring 3 additional full time firefighters. We also ran a successful recruit academy and were able to add 4 pay call firefighters to our roles. We continue to make community and firefighter safety our #1 goal. We received 2 grants. One for Thermal Imaging Cameras and one for active shooter personnel protective equipment totaling almost $32.000.00. We offer a heartfelt thank you to all of the men and women that the City of Chubbuck employ to keep us all safe and well. They do an excellent job. We have had 117 new business licenses issued this year for an 18% increase in licensed businesses in the city. Many are small and even in home occupations. Others are larger and some are national chains. To name a few: Palace Playhouse, Hobby Lobby, Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen, Freddies Frozen Yogurt and Steak Burgers, Black Bear Restaurant, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Penera Bread, Discount Tire, Auto Zone, Noodles and Company, Denver Mattress, Kay Jewlers, Aspen Dental, Costa Vida fresh Mexican Grill, Jack in the Box, Geronimo's Trampoline Park, Tuxes Now, FUJI Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar. Other businesses are coming and some are expanding. We are excited to have every last one of them located in our city. Each one brings their added touch to our thriving metropolitan area and the outlook for our future. Melanie Evans and Annette Baumeister were elected to our council and were sworn in last January. They have worked very hard to learn the ropes of governing this city. They have each shown great capacity and desire to serve and are serving this community well. It has been a number of years since this city elected a female to serve on the council. Their prospective is a blessing. Also this year we have appointed 2 women to the Land Use and Development Commission, Carrie Holm and Thais Ayre, and to the Chubbuck Development Authority, Mecinna Price and Annette Baumeister. We are appreciative of the positive prospective and energy they have brought to city governance. Allstate customers are not the only ones in good hands. Thanks to each of these wonderful individuals for their willingness to serve. This community continues to show its stripes. By far and away the majority of the people in this city remain positive and the "we can get it done attitude" prevails. When challenges arise champions step up to the plate and swing for the bleachers. We may not always hit the home run but we always do get the job done. I love living in Chubbuck Idaho. 2016 was a great year and 2017 looks to be a continuation of the same. The city is what it is because the citizens are who they are. Thank you to each one that lives in this city. May God bless and proper you in the coming year.