Carrie Moritz gave me two good ideas when we were discussing ideas for the January submission to the paper: an article looking back at 2020 or one looking forward to 2021. I like the idea of looking forward at projects and goals for the upcoming year. 2020 was a difficult year for everyone, but I think that we got a lot accomplished at the city level. I’ve written articles about all of the things that we have been working towards and have completed. 2021 is going to be a good year for Garretson.
As the “City of Parks” we should start there. The Parks Board has done an incredible job. At the last meeting there was discussion of adding camping sites and creating day use areas. There have been new trails created and we will continue to support the parks by cleaning them up like we did last summer. There will be some more ash trees removed from the parks. The ash trees in the park and boulevards are being marked and will be tracked as we continue the removal process. Last summer was nice as we had extra help and instead of just maintaining the parks we were able to improve them. Our goal is to continue that.
Anna Uhl, the Finance Officer, has placed a serious focus on government accessibility. She continues to work with American Legal to get the city’s ordinances and resolutions online. The city’s council meetings can be viewed on Zoom. The TextMyGov program has just come online. This system will text notifications of snow alerts, city updates and important messages to residents who sign up for the service. There was a notification on the city’s FaceBook page and there will be notices in the paper and utility bills on how to sign up for this system. We have a meeting coming up shortly in regards to a Geographic Information System (GIS) system. The GIS will allow tracking and locating of the city’s infrastructure. This will let city workers work faster by not having to guess at where infrastructure like water and sewer pipes are located.
There are projects that are finishing, starting and being planned. The truck route will be finishing up this spring. Yes, it was supposed to be done this fall, but unfortunately the dirt on the truck route was too soft and had to be removed. It is in our benefit to wait to asphalt it. It will settle over the winter and spring and make a better road bed in the long run. Yes, it is a pain and a mess, but it will be worth it. The 5th Street Bridge project will be going out for bid shortly and construction will hopefully begin this summer. A long term goal of the city council is to create a trail from Palisades State Park to Garretson. This is just in the discussion phase, but we are working to tie this project in with the new construction at the state park. The city council and Task Force are continuing to develop a plan for the Community Center/City Hall. Once the plan is done we will work on site selection. Several community input meetings will be held, so please feel free to come to give your opinion, thoughts or ideas to the architect.
Anna Uhl and I have met twice with Jesse Fonkert. Jesse is the director of Minnehaha County Economic Development Association (MCEDA). Our last meeting was about creating thoughts and ideas of how to improve our community through economic development. This is in the discussion phase and is something that we will continue to work towards. Garretson is a great community and has a lot of good things going for it. As I see it, the next step in promoting our community is economic growth.
If you ever have any questions please feel free to email me or contact a member of the City Council. My email is . Thank you and I hope that everyone has a safe and Blessed 2021.
