Office
of Tom Vicat, City AdministratorHello again from City Hall
Good news kids (and Parents) - John
Collins, our School Superintendent
says that School starts August 14th.
A big THANK YOU to all of you who take
pride in the appearance of your homes and businesses and keep the grass
cut and “Ugly Stuff” out of sight.
For a list of
Lawn Mowing Services, call City Hall.
How about our Gas prices?
Surely
it’s a coincidence that it as an election year and the price of gas is
dropping slightly.
The American
Automobile Association, (AAA) estimates the average cost per mile is
around $.55 per mile with insurance, fuel and depreciation figured in.
$16.50 for a 30 mile round
trip to
Business Items:
Last month’s question about your
interest in a fitness center
in Strafford had many positive responses and was passed on to the people
who are considering the investment.
When you are eating at a good
Chinese restaurant in
FREE hair cuts for school age kids
accompanied by a parent at Christina’s Salon on Monday August 11th.
Cowan’s Conoco,
has added a breakfast & deli sandwich bar to their convenience store.
Chamber of Commerce news:
The Strafford Area
Chamber of Commerce new office is at Pine & Jefferson behind Max
Croxdale’s Real estate office.
The C
of C is also looking for
donations of office furniture, table lamps, office supplies, etc.
You can call me at city hall or Kelly Hunt C of C President at
736-2526 or Marcy Yarbrough, VP at 736-2251.
The Howard Smith Park:
Josh Termin,14, an Eagle Scout candidate
& his Mom & Dad, Leann & John have built a very nice 200 foot long Post
& Rail fence on the west side of the park by the parking area.
Doesn’t it feel good to
have kids in our community like Josh Termin?
How about the “Adopt-A-Bench”
program. You can put your name or the name of a loved one on a
long-lasting bench. Anyone interested in helping with landscaping will
be appreciated. Also,
please do not let your kids bring water balloons to the park!
A balloon clogged up a pump impeller and it cost a few hundred
dollars to replace the motor.
The Strafford Historical Society
is seeking information on historic
businesses, such as
letterheads, photo’s, abstracts, railroad timetables or any other
documents to make copies of.
Help preserve the past. Call
Susan Kreiger – 736-3429.
Strafford Fire District news:
The Fire Department’s
administrative office at Station #2 on YY (Division St.) east of Hwy
125. Generally open 8:00am
to 2:00pm up to three days a week.
Lunch is 10:45 to 11:45.
The new number is 831-1211.
IF YOU HAVE AN EMERGENCY
CALL 911.
Neighborhood Watch Program: The next
meeting is Aug. 21st at 7PM at City Hall.
Watch for reminder
signs around town. Bring a
neighbor and let’s keep our neighborhood safe from the
bad guy’s out there.
Call
Carolyn Lee at 736-9169 or
Corporal Inlow at the Police station (736-4000).
A strong Neighborhood Watch Program WORKS.
Route 66 Days are coming again on
September 5th & 6th:
A “G” rated movie, “
Downtown Revitalization Plan:
Please call me or E-Mail your ideas on improving our downtown
area to tomvicat@peoplepc.com. Have
you noticed the clean up work done by
Ed & Odie at A-1 Towing on the
Public Works Department:
There are still a few
sewer manhole cuts & broken pavement layers that still have to be
repaired. If you have a hole
on your street that needs filling, call me to verify that it is on my
repair list.
The City recently
traded in one of our big Backhoes for a
Bobcat Compact Excavator that
is much more practical for doing all the ditch work and other digging
tasks around town. If you
want replace a culvert, the city will install it if the owner buys the
materials.
Also, please don’t put leaves and
branches in the drainage ditches because they will clog the culverts
Street Paving:
As of 7/28, the
Library Report:
The
Police Department:
Our very own,
Corporal James Inlow, has
been selected for “Officer of the
Year” and was honored at a ceremony at
Andrew Bean,
has been appointed as our new
Emergency Management Director.
Andy will eventually have a desk in City Hall and will coordinate
with the Fire & Police departments during tornadoes, ice storms or other
bad events.
Speaking of Emergency Management, all of
us are responsible for the safety & protection of our families.
ARE YOU READY for bad
weather? Do you have canned
foods, a manual can opener, bottled water, flashlights & batteries,
battery or crank operated weather radio with a cell phone charger jack,
blankets, prescription medications, etc.
Have you considered building a “Safe Room” or in-ground
shelter?
Proposed Storm Water sales Tax:
On Nov. 4th,
the City of Strafford Board of Aldermen will be asking the citizens to
support a ½ Cent Storm Water Sales Tax.
The Capital Improvement Sales Tax passed in 2004 was needed for
the following projects:
1.
New Well &
Tower on the South Side
2. New 8” Gravity sewer Line on the south Side
3.
Upgrade of
Sewer Lift Stations
4. A solution to the sewer odors
5.
A solution
to occasional water orders
Also, any other
Capital Improvement Expenditures related to the efficiency and quality
of the City’s Water & Sewer System as suggested by the Water Module
Report and Master Sewer Plan prepared by the City Engineer.
Your Board of
Aldermen are proud to announce that the sales tax passed in ’04 has
allowed the completion of
Items 1,2 & 3 and we are working on the possibility of smoke testing of
the sewer lines to detect odor sources.
Your Board of
Aldermen is very concerned with the recent flooding and lack of a good
Storm Water Drainage system in the City.
The City Engineer has estimated it will cost approximately
9.5 million dollars ($9,500,000)
to correct the problem and the Aldermen are asking the citizens to pass
this ½ cent Storm Water Sales
Tax. The revenue from
the tax along with the possibility of receiving Grants and attractive
Financing will allow the City to start addressing this serious problem.
More information will be presented in the coming months.
Please e-mail me with any comments or suggestions
Since I have a
little space left, let me tell you about your
wacko City Administrator.
I went Sky Diving with my
granddaughter, Shelby Vicat on her 18th birthday.
This 70 year old guy jumped out of a perfectly good airplane at
12,300 ft and did a 6,000ft freefall at
120MPH before they popped the
chute. It was a thrilling
experience. The only thing
they forgot was toilet paper!
Please let me know if you have any news
items, births, deaths, people in the military, people moving in,.