Mayor's Notes

Happy New Year!

After realizing that the last two years have flown by, I thought I might reflect on what is happening in your Town Council.

In January we welcomed Jim Mackay to the council. He has been appointed to the streets and roads committee and has some ideas for improvements. He will also serve on the Land Planning Board.

The council continues to work on the ordinances and how they fit in our government today and our needs for the future.

We have begun advertising for a Public Works Director. The current position is held by, Elston Loken, who has informed us that his retirement is imminent. We feel that it is in the best interest of the town to look for his replacement sooner than later. Applications can be obtained at the city office.

Funding has been received to work on streets. The council voted to lay down some gravel and mag-chloride on heavily traveled streets.

We are advertising for lifeguards and summer park maintenance help. The job begins after school is out in May and goes until school resumes in August. Applications are due in March.

Elston has been busy looking for a water leak on our system. As you can see from the Town minutes, our water loss has increased substantially. We hope to have that taken care of before the print of this letter.

Many ask about where we are with the fire department. We are currently waiting for a court date. This has been moved from September, to February, and now to June. Both parties are anxious to resolve this issue and move on.

We have discussed many requests to have the Town of Ekalaka resurveyed. The cost, at this time, is very much prohibitive, but we will continue to look for solutions.

The Chamber of Commerce and the Town are working together on a Main Street beautification project. This would involve all Main Street businesses. The Chamber invites all businesses to participate in the Chamber and bring ideas that you would like to see the Chamber work on.

We have succeeded in securing $200,000.00 in grant funding to help with the Dahl Memorial Hospital building project and look forward to the completion of the much-needed facility. We have also secured grant funding to do a feasibility study on the levy and for engineering fees to upgrade water infrastructure. Kitty continues to look for grant possibilities to help with projects, such as a new pool, that are just not reachable with the small town budget.

We hope you all have good health and prosperity in the upcoming year.