Mayor's State of the City
At the January 17, 2012 City Council meeting Mayor Phil Brubaker addressed the City with his annual "State of the City Address" below are his remarks...
State of the City Remarks, January 17, 2012
Good Evening Everyone,
For the next few minutes, I'd like to make several comments about what's ahead for the City of Florence in this new year. And I want to start with volunteerism.
As never before, we shall see an ever-increasing role for our citizens serving in volunteer organizations to help make the City work. This increase builds on the long-standing contributions of volunteers such as the Friends of the Events Center; the Old Town, Gallagher and Veterans Park volunteers; and the Visitor Center volunteers, all which directly support City programs.
Newer on the scene are the wonderfully dedicated volunteers of Florence Senior Center, Inc., who make our new Senior Center a great success through lots of hard work. And our newest organization, just starting last month, is the Airport Volunteer Group which is staffing our Airport every day.
In 2012, one of the City Council's major goals is to continue this trend with the formal establishment of Adopt-a-Park volunteer groups for the 18th Street Pocket Park, Hurd Park, and perhaps even a brand new off-leash dog park. Stay tuned!
Next, let me emphasize that the City is financially strong. We have refinanced borrowing to achieve lower costs, and our property tax supported debt is only $1.1 million, less than 3% of our borrowing capacity of $39 million. By making difficult belt--tightening decisions over the past several years, we have been able to increase modestly our unrestricted reserves this year, despite a struggling economy. For the first time, the City is operating on a fiscal year budget within the parameters of a five-year financial plan. Our infrastructure is good and improving, especially our water, waste water and storm water utilities.
The one bleak spot is our street fund. This year, the City Council will be studying possibilities for increased street revenue leading to a very conscious decision about whether to try to fund more preventative street maintenance through a vote of the people, or just let street conditions deteriorate. To be blunt, our street fund is just about broke. Why? It's been underfunded for years.
On the environmental front, our three-year comprehensive Siuslaw Watershed Study will be completed in 2012, but we need to find the money to continue our aquifer water quality monitoring program indefinitely. I'm sure you have heard the saying that drinking water is becoming the "black gold" of the 215' century, and along with our clean air and beautiful coastal setting, plentiful, clean water is our greatest asset.
Recently, perhaps you've heard about some of our neighbors to the north discussing plans to convert the Heceta Water District into a PUD. Well, I want to assure our City water customers right now that this City Council will do everything in its power to ensure that our City water utility will not be financially harmed by this PUD business. And that ain't no gobble-di-gook!
At City Hall, the Justice Center, the Public Works shop, and the Events Center we are fortunate to have an outstanding management team leading dedicated City employees who have steadfastly maintained their diligence and hard work in lean times, and we thank them for that. We wish our new City Manager and Police Chief great success in their new leadership roles, and we are highly confident that they will meet and exceed the challenges in the years ahead.
Lastly, and on a personal note, I want to thank the members of our Florence City Council. We speak our own minds, but we always seem to work for the greatest good for our citizens and our City. Borrowing from Robert Fulghum's book All 1 Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten, as a City Council we play well together, and we share our toys. We don't run with scissors, and usually, we hold hands and look both ways before crossing the street. It doesn't get much better than that!
Thanks, everyone, for listening.
