Sugar City, Idaho: The Dayley Report

  Sunpro and Ancient Grain Facilities It's nice to see the progress being made on two of the latest businesses to move into Sugar City.  If you haven't heard, Sunpro is building a large complex just south of Hwy 33 and north of the junior high school. The facility will include a truss and door plant, lumber yard, and commercial store. On the site that used to be Moody Creek Produce on 7th east, Ancient Grains is erecting the first storage and processing shed of their facility. Eventually, they expect to have a number of buildings, including a commercial location. Christmas Light Celebration The annual Christmas Light Celebration is this coming Monday, December 2, at 6pm at Heritage Park.  Afterward, kids are invited to visit with Santa at the North Pole at City Hall. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and is looking forward to a wonderful Christmas Season!

  New School/City Tennis Courts The new tennis courts are done, and they look great! A dedicated citizens group led an intense campaign to get a coalition of partners together so we could get some new tennis courts in our community. The school district was the largest contributor of both land and funding. The city, the county, and Madison Memorial Hospital/Madison Health also were major contributors to the project. The city is working out the logistics of a reservation system for the courts, so the public will have access during times the school district isn't using the courts.  For now, if you are interested in using the courts for tennis or pickleball, please drop in city hall for the details. I'm grateful for everyone involved in this project. It took some debate and even a bit of arguing, but we all had the same overall goal in mind and made it happen. Thanks! Treats in the Streets Our 3rd annual Treats in the Streets celebration is this coming Thursday 4-7pm (17 October)....

  2025 Budget Last council meeting, the city council passed the 2025 budget. This is a summary of the budget. If you'd like to see more details, please stop by city hall and ask to see it. We also heard from the city auditors regarding our finances from the past year, and we got a good report. You can also see a copy of that report at city hall if you wish.  The city runs on public funding, and I think the current budget reflects this understanding--that we have to be wise in what we budget for and how we plan for current and future city needs. Cities have to be careful not to get into the habit of thinking "We need more money," and, instead, be in the habit of thinking "We can make this work." Utility Fees Here are the new fees for water, sewer, and garbage. "Last Year" = 2024 budget; "This Year" = 2025 budget (beginning Oct 1, 2024) Sugar City's First Stoplight? Councilmember Carter Stanford pointed out that the new stoplight on the nor...

  2025 Budget It's the city's annual budget time again. During our last council meeting, we passed the 2025 tentative budget, and we'll have a public hearing on the budget at the beginning of our next meeting on August 22nd. After the hearing, the council will discuss and then vote on the budget. If you'd like to see a copy of the tentative budget, please drop in city hall for a copy. It can be interesting to see all of the budget details. Even for a small city like Sugar, the budget is fairly complex. I've spent a long time looking over the budget proposal submitted by the mayor and his staff. I think it represents a good balance between planning for the future and responsibly using the public's money to maintain the city as we should. One item that caught my attention in this year's budget was the capital fund for roads. The mayor proposed (and I agree with his point) that we need to be saving more money for future road projects. We have relatively decent ...

Smart Growth This week, Madison County Commissioners voted to approve an amended Sugar City impact area in the Salem area. With the new boundaries approved, Sugar City is able to add additional voting members from within the impact area to our Planning and Zoning Commission, giving them a representative voice on the commission. We're excited to bring them onboard. Sugar City and Salem have been a combined community for many years, and as growth continues in our region, we're glad to cooperate officially with Salem residents in planning for our unified future. Above is a current snapshot of the County's GIS map, showing Sugar City's boundaries in blue and Rexburg's in red. (The impact area boundary lines are not shown here but are basically extended out from our city borders into the surrounding county area.) Most of us are aware of the current, mainly residential, growth in various areas of Sugar City. The two next biggest areas of growth will most likely come in th...