Dark Sky Ordinance
Not long ago the city council passed a revised dark sky ordinance. We'd like to keep the light pollution to a minimum in the city so we can enjoy the night skies of our beautiful corner of Idaho.
If you've seen the great new high school soccer facility at the new junior high at night, you've seen what lights that follow such a dark sky policy can look like. The lights light up the pitch perfectly, but leave the surrounding areas enjoyably dark. It's fantastic! I took the photo above, looking west from over by the old sugar factory. If my camera were better, you would be able to see stars above the lights in the night sky as I could.
Fall Clean-Up Day
Fall clean-up day is Monday, October 17th. Items can be put out for pick up one week in advance. Please contact city hall for more information.
Treats in the Streets
Thursday, October 20th from 4-7pm will be the city "Treats in the Street" celebration. Center Street will be closed and business and vendors are invited to set up tables or booths to hand out candy or other items or information or to sell items. You can sign up for a table or booth at city hall for $20.
The plan is for the community to simply enjoy the evening and have fun: bounce houses, fire truck, food trucks, vendors, hay rides, historical items, etc. Come and enjoy the evening with your community family!
Gas Line Upgrades
Ugh! I'm sure everyone has had enough of the problems with the gas company's line upgrades this summer and now going into fall. Let's just say the work hasn't been done to anyone's satisfaction. The city is aware of the many problems and loss of time and productivity many people have experienced, not to mention the condition of our roads. I will try to keep you updated on any news regarding these issues. Certainly, residents are able to contact the gas company directly as they wish, as well.
Water & Sewer & Garbage Rates
Some residents asked me about why our water rates are higher than surrounding areas. There are many factors at play here, of course. Small cities often struggle with water and sewer because they have to maintain facilities and infrastructure without the benefit of scale, meaning the cost of the systems are shared by a relatively small base of residents and commercial entities.
Sugar City has some of best--if not the best--culinary water in the state. You can see our latest water quality report on the city's website. Protecting and maintaining such great water isn't easy and not cheap. As for our waste water, we pay Rexburg to process it.
The city council just approved two studies regarding our water and waste water infrastructure, needs, upgrades, and planning. It's been a number of years since we've had such a water study and 20+ years since we've had a thorough wastewater study. We will be glad to get these studies done so we can continue to maintain our quality water and plan for our future maintenance and upgrades.
In any case, I did some research to compare our residential costs with surrounding cities. I'll post what I came up with below, comparing Idaho Falls, Rexburg, St. Anthony, and Sugar City. (I couldn't readily find Rigby's fees.) Hopefully, I got all the figures correct. I also compared basic residential garbage rates.
I am grateful to live in Sugar City, and I appreciate everyone's sense of community. You gotta love Sugar!
