Well, if you happen to like rain, I guess this is your week. Myself, I am thankful it is not snow.
The rain we are getting appears to be part of the same system that is hitting California so hard. After several years of waiting and wondering if the there will be enough moisture each Spring, it appears, at least at this point, that there will be ample water for the coming farming season. Let’s just hope that if it continues, we do not have the flooding that California is experiencing.
Speaking of flooding, as I mentioned last week, the City has sandbags and sand available in the City lot on the southwest corner of Commercial and West First Street, just a block south of City Hall. There are also some sandbags, but no sand, available in the entry to City Hall. The sand and sandbags are free to anyone who might need them. Just help yourself. If you are unable to fill or haul the bags yourself, please contact City Hall at 208-414-1965 and we will assist in any way we can.
The Street Department is using this time to also use the loader and dump trucks to pick up leaves that were trapped in the snow. The snow came before they could be vacuumed up in the Fall. Picking the leaves up with the loader should help prevent water from backing up in the streets.
Also, the Street Department continues to pick up your natural Christmas trees for disposal. All you need to do is to completely strip the tree – no ornaments, tinsel, wires, lights, garland, stands, etc., and set the “gently used” tree on the curb for pickup. This is another of the free services that the City offers so please take advantage of it.
On to a different subject, I was visiting with one of the younger City employees last week. During the conversation, he let me know that he had been reading the City’s draft Comprehensive Plan. A couple of the statistics in the plan pointed to the dilemma that he and his wife are facing, which is that the median income in Weiser is $37,500 and the median home price is $315,000.
This gap between wages and home prices are keeping many younger people from being able to afford the purchase of a home. For many of us, purchasing a home is the first step towards wealth building for retirement and other goals.
This is a very complicated issue beyond the ability of the City of Weiser to solve. Even large cities with vastly greater resources struggle with this issue. But, one thing we are able to do is to encourage a modest increase in the number of homes.
As most of you are aware, there are two new subdivisions on the west side of town that are in the stages of development. How quickly these are developed will depend on the developer and economic factors. Of course, these homes since they would be new, will probably not be at the lower end of the price spectrum. Hopefully, however, this will free up some lower priced homes for younger families to get into and get started.
It turns out that there were sixteen building permits for new homes including manufactured houses in 2022. This is not a great deal of new construction in Weiser, but it does fit in with desire for moderate growth. The goal is to have growth, but for Weiser to continue to be a great place to live, work, and play.
Well, that’s it for this week. I hope you have a great week, even if it proves to be a wet one.
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