Congratulations to our new Washington County officials. Monday was swearing-in day and the full change over has taken place. Thank you to Tom Anderson, Georgia Plischke, and Betty Thomas for their many years of service to the residents of Washington County and enjoy your retirement.
While out on my walks around town, I noticed that we have people walking their dogs around the downtown, which is great. However, some owners are not taking time to pick up after their dogs. I realize some of the mess is caused by dogs running loose but our 4-H kids placed a holder and bags in to downtown area to help owners pick up and I don’t think everyone takes a minute to use them. Please carry bags or get one from the receptacle across from People’s Furniture. Help keep our downtown area clean even if the dog selects one of our tree areas.
One of our local residents also brought it to my attention that there is a problem with dog walkers not cleaning up after their pets at the WHS track too. That is such a nice facility for our residents to use, I would hate for the schools to have to limit use because some users don’t pick up after their pets. Remember to take bags to clean up so the track is usable by everyone including our kids.
City crews continue to work on plant and annual maintenance. The Street Department has one of the sweepers in for maintenance getting it ready to hit the roads. With the mild weather, we can pick up sand as it collects due to slick roads. It is always easier to pick up thin layers rather than waiting for a large accumulation. The sanding truck will be ready when needed throughout the cold weather and officers try to keep an eye on slick areas so it can be addressed quickly.
I have been busy reviewing applications from across the state for local highway grants. This is part of my role on the Local Highway Technical Assistance Council (LHTAC). Roads and bridges continue to be a challenge across the state. There is currently a calculated shortfall of $407 mil. in needed maintenance. There are a couple of different pools of money that have not been able to keep up with the maintenance of the highway systems.
The highway funds collected as a result of changes made in 2015 and HB312 are divided between to state and local jurisdictions on a 60%-40% split. Of the 40% going to locals 30% goes to cities and 70% to counties and highway districts. The cities money is distributed based on population. With the counties and highway districts it is divided 10% is equally divided, 45% based on registration and 45% based on improved road miles. Last year 192 cities received $13,036,702. Of those receiving money, 165 cities received less then $50,000; 10 received between $50,000-$100,000; 7 received up to $200,000, 4 received up to the $500,000 level and 6 received more than $500,000. When you look at projects like our 9th street project which will eventually cost about $2.9 mil, you can see why it take so long for small cities to complete major maintenance. Next week, I’ll share some of the figures for counties and highway districts.
Weiser Memorial Hospital is providing some great educational opportunities. One coming up that is free of charge is the Free Diabetes Classes. The first class will be held on January 25 at the Weiser Public Library. Call 208-455-5423 for more information. There are monthly topics and A1C testing with the on-going education and support. Be sure to call if you want to take advantage of this opportunity. This is a great service of our local hospital.
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