Mid Year City Update

June 15, 2015

I hope everyone had a great fourth of July. A few weeks back we celebrated stage coach days and there are still some great events coming up this summer. The city's next big celebration is Marigold Days.

Fiftieth Marigold Days:

The city is making big plans for our 50^th Marigold Days celebration. We have added more music, more events and more fireworks. What started off as an informal celebration with the donation of some flower seeds has grown to be a large draw during the last few weeks of the summer. Look for more print and media ads as the dates gets closer. Make sure to mark your calendar for September 12 & 13. With a new melodrama, car show, 5K run, fishing contest, pie and ice cream social, flower show, quilt show, antique appraisals, bingo and a lot more there is something for everyone, so plan to attend our 50^th Marigold Days and be sure to check out the live music. A complete list of events, times and musical groups can be found on the committees web site at marigolddays.com.

Mantorville GEM:

The Mantorville EDA is now accepting applications for individuals that have gone above and beyond the call of duty to help our community. We award a “GEM of Mantorville” award each year during Marigold Days and we choose the recipients from those names submitted for consideration. Persons interested in submitting an application and nominating a person should contact city hall and obtain a nominating form. Applications are due August 6, so that the EDA can make a selection and get the plaque made in time for presentation at Marigold Days.

Streets:

Many of you have asked about the status of 5^th street and Golf View Court. Both of these streets have experienced accelerated deterioration and have thus been updated in the construction priority. In both cases the sub-structure of the road has failed. Our engineering staff has evaluated the road condition and presented a plan that calls for the complete re-building of both roads. The city engineers are currently working on detail design plans for each and we will address these roads in the spring. There was not ample time to create the plans, find a construction crew and still fit the reconstruction into this season. The city staff has been informed that they should try and keep the holes patched as best they can until we can rebuilt the roads next spring.

EDA:

The Mantorville Economic Development Authority (EDA) has a vacancy. The EDA is the organization that makes recommendations to the city regarding tourism, the allocation of the Rochester Sales tax money and how to grow business within Mantorville. Anyone interested in helping the city and the EDA make these types of decisions can apply for the open seat on the EDA by filling out an application at city hall.

AT&T

The city and AT&T have a lease agreement that gives AT&T the right to build a small shelter to house it's electronics and to place several cellular antennas on top of our water tower. The original lease was a two year “options” lease which gives them the ability to build and install the cell “site”. AT&T has pulled a building permit however, has not yet started construction. The city received a request from AT&T to extend their two year lease option. The city has signed the extension of this agreement and the EDA as well as the Chamber of commerce are drafting a letter of support to encourage the completion of this project. When the city receives additional information regarding the construction of the cell site, we will make that information known.

Employee Evaluations:

The city evaluates all of it's employees on an annual basis. Occasionally we get feedback from sub-committee members on the performance of our staff but we only rarely receive feedback from the community. Anyone that would like to share an opportunity for improvement or a “job well done” observation may send their comments to me. I will form an aggregate community section and consider your input while the personnel committee reviews each employees performance this year. You can send email observations to MantorvilleMayor@GMail.Com.

Please feel free to visit my blog and comment on this or other articles. Check back frequently because I will post survey questions from time to time to gather input from the community. You may also send your questions or observations to my email address or as always feel free to stop me when you see me around town and share your thoughts about our community.

Yours in service,

Chuck Bradford, Mayor - City of Mantorville
MayorBradford.BlogSpot.com