New Backhoe
The city recently acquired a great new piece of equipment. This new backhoe will be a great workhorse for the city public works department as they maintain necessary city services. With any luck, it will last us many, many years. Now, if we can just keep Mayor Adams from taking it out on joyrides around town...
Annexations
The past month or so, the city has had the opportunity to annex a number of properties, as requested by the property owners. We're glad to get these properties into the city limits.
Sugar City is a wonderful "bedroom" community, and along with our residential areas, we need to make sure we have enough commercial zones to maintain a proper tax base to support the needs of our city. Also, it's nice to have additional commercial properties for residents to take advantage of, and these annexations help us more firmly maintain our borders with our neighboring cities.
We are grateful for the great businesses we have in our city currently, including the new businesses moving into our Business Park, and we look forward to more opportunities to spend our money right here in Sugar City, as commercial properties develop to meet the needs of our residents.
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is always one of the primary concerns and responsibilities of a city. Even without any additional growth, there's always work that must be done or infrastructure that must be upgraded as the years go by.
Our new well in Old Farm Estates will be ready to go online later this spring or early summer. We could use it now if we needed to, but there are some final checks we're completing that we would like to have done before we fire it up for full service.
Our 40+ year-old concrete sewage line running down Railroad Ave (Hwy 33) to Rexburg is going to need to be replaced in the next year or so. Concrete was the standard material back then, but the gasses in the line corrode the concrete over time, so it needs to be changed out with modern materials which should last much longer into the future.
Growth
The city is growing. There are some growing pains that will come with the increased population and businesses. And there are plenty of great opportunities that are coming with the growth as well. I remain optimistic that we, the mayor, the city council, the school district, and the residents, can guide this growth to the great benefit of our city.
We love our little corner of this great state, and we can maintain and even improve our quality of life if we're careful and we plan well and work together well.
There are plenty of opportunities for residents to get involved, everything from volunteering for events such as the Easter Egg Hunt, Independence Day float, and Sugar Days to working on a committee such as the Historical Preservation Commission or serving a term on the Design Review Committee or the Planning and Zoning Commission. Drop in or call City Hall and get involved. The more the merrier!
You gotta love Sugar!