Many Of Fort Morgan Council’s 2011-12 Goals Completed Or In Progress
The members of the Fort Morgan City Council gathered Saturday for about 5.5 hours for a retreat to look at the past year’s accomplishments and what the council wanted to happen in the coming years.
The council first heard from Acting City Manager Jeff Wells about the status of goals and objectives set in 2011 for the 2012 budget. These were split into five categories: quality of life, infrastructure, public safety, taxes/finance and city government work force development.
Quality of life and infrastructure goals updates are detailed below.
Quality of life goals
The first of last year’s council’s goals for quality of life improvements was finishing quiet zones so that train operators do not have sound their whistles at railroad crossings in city limits.
Wells said that this goal is well on its way, with in-house engineering planned this year and building planned for 2013.
A plan to address “blight” in the city — another of last year’s council’s goals — will be brought before the council on March 6, according to Wells.
Improving the education of the city’s immigrant population was another goal, and Wells called its progress “ongoing.” he said the city is working with OneMorgan County on this goal.
Setting aside $5,000 for “seed money” for possible storefront improvement grants was established in the 2012 budget, Wells said.
Golf course maintenance was a goal with progress that Wells called well under way, as the city invested $600,000 on a new irrigation system and promoted Matt Givens from the parks department to oversee golf course maintenance.
Improving the city’s relationship with the Morgan County Economic Development Corp. was another goal, and Wells said that the relationship “is improving” and is “much better than it has been in the past.”
New flooring at the Fort Morgan Senior Center was one goal that is complete, as the open house to show the improvements at the center was held last month.
Installing security/safety cameras at the recreation center is in progress, with wiring complete and installation of the cameras just waiting on equipment. Wells said that Network Administrator Nelson McCoy saved the city a lot of money by doing the wiring himself.
Realigning the scoreboards at the Riverside Park ball fields to eliminate sun glare is a goal that is still in progress, as the feasibility and costs are still unknown, Wells said.
Economic development in downtown is another goal that is in progress, as the city is working with MCEDC to “move forward with a plan to address the vacancy list,” according to Wells.
And restoring economic development incentives is another goal that is in progress with MCDEC, Wells said.
Maintaining low utility rates and making annual adjustments, whether increases or decreases, is a goal that is progress, with a review of 2012 rates scheduled for April, Wells said.
Performing utility rate studies without a conflict of interest caused by utility providers doing the study is a goal that Wells very happily announced was complete.
However, expanding the Riverside Park trail system north of the river was a goal determined by staff to be “not possible,” as the property is currently leased and there are limits to the existing conservation easement that would have to be addressed first, Wells said.
Infrastructure
The council’s top infrastructure goal was finishing water storage for the city, which was determined to be cost prohibitive immediately, Wells said. but staff is working with Quality Water on an interconnection that could provide more water security in emergencies. Final engineering for this would be scheduled once an agreement between the city and Morgan County Quality Water District is signed.
Raw water storage at the water treatment plant was another goal, and staff is still “looking at various options” for this, Wells said.
Purchasing a new jet/vac truck for the streets department was a goal that was completed last year.
Work is still in progress on addressing or resolving issues with the Platte Avenue Lateral. Wells called this “definitely something we need to work on.”
McCoy is looking into address the goal to better utilize the city’s fiber optic network, Wells said. A full system analysis and study needs to be completed so that the city knows what is where on the network and who is using it. Money has been planned to be allocated in the 2013 budget for this study.
The city is working on the goal to improve stormwater drainage, with studies completed and the Fort Morgan Stormwater Ad Hoc Committee working to determine the best possible funding mechanism for related infrastructure projects.
The goal of buying as much Colorado-Big Thompson water as funding will allow is another goal that is in progress, Wells said.
The council will hear in March about negotiations for possible uses for the land in the industrial/commercial park controlled by the city, Wells said.
Reviewing the 2012 plan for street improvements and repairs was a goal that Wells said was complete.
“We will be rolling out the plan to council in the next few weeks,” he said.
Replacing the flooring at the animal shelter is something that is in progress, Wells said, and a meeting is planned in March with the Fort Morgan Humane Society.
“We’re working with them to prioritize,” Wells said. “That relationship is getting better, as well.”
Conducting water system emergency exercises is a goal that was completed in 2011 and will be repeated in 2012, Wells said.
“It went really well last year,” he said. “We were surprised.”
Pursuing power generation in the city’s water supply lines is a goal that is in progress, as the council recently approved conducting a feasibility study into this issue.
Realigning city offices and concentrating them at the city complex is another goal that is in progress, Wells said. Renovations started last year are nearing completion, and “we’re going to start moving people soon.”
Resolving issues at Fort Morgan Municipal Airport is a goal that is in progress, but that will likely be the case for quite some time. the environmental assessment is still underway, but once that is completed, city officials would be able to start negotiations regarding land acquisition and other issues, Wells said.
Look for information about updates on progress on the council’s 2012 public safety, taxes/finance and city government work force development goals, as well as the goals and priorities for 2013, later this week in the Fort Morgan Times.
–Contact Jenni Grubbs at jgrubbs@fmtimes.com.
<a href="http://www.fortmorgantimes.com/ci_20010330tag:news.google.com,2005:cluster=http://www.fortmorgantimes.com/ci_20010330Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:00:19 GMT”>Many of Fort Morgan Council’s 2011-12 goals completed or in progress
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