Town of Pinedale update
by Bob Jones, Pinedale Mayor
September 21, 2014
There has been a lot going on in Pinedale since a new Town Council and Mayor were elected. The new town council has made it very clear to all town staff that we are all here to support your needs and those of the town. Every Monday morning I have a staff meeting to discuss our path forward and how what we did last week could be done better. Every week staff members are reminded that when a decision is made it had better be made in the best interest of the Town of Pinedale. If a decision is made in the best interest of the town I will stand and defend that person even if the decision may not have worked out so well. If we make a mistake we will learn from it and move on. We also talk a lot about attitude and customer service. When you contact the Town of Pinedale we want you to be treated with respect and courtesy. From what I have seen the new and existing staff have embraced this policy. If you have any suggestions about how we can improve our customer service, please let me know and we will talk about it.
Anyone who has ever been involved in business/leadership knows that you are dead in the water if you do not have goals and objectives. Our town is no different. Town Councilmen Murdock and Lingle have spent many hours organizing a priority list that was collected from citizen and council input. This list is available at the town hall front desk or on our web page. While these priorities are important they are not set in concrete and are always open for discussion. As an example, the list did include a movie theater but because conditions recently changed with our theater closing this may be worth a discussion.
We have several projects that were recently completed or are in the works. In a cooperative effort with the town,school board and John Harbor, the new developer of the Bloomfield property surrounding the elementary school, we have worked out a plan to complete the roads into the subdivision. We now have two entrances, complete handicap access to the school, and safe sidewalks. You may have also noticed that Town Hall was recently cleaned up and painted in a cooperative effort with Pinedale Main Street. A large percentage of the chip and seal streets were repaired by Josh Wilson and his crew and resurfaced. The West Chemical Feed Station is about 80% complete. This will further enhance the water system run by Alan Svalberg. Recently a state water inspector told me that we operate one of the state's best water systems. A year round restroom facility is under construction in Boyd Skinner Park. Our parks, ball fields and flower barrels have never looked better thanks to Rich Rohrer and his crew. It is worth noting that our Sage and Snow flower barrels have been maintained primarily by John Gibson, a volunteer. It’s when we receive that kind of community support that I know our town is heading in the right direction.
Projects that are in the planning stages include the following: a green strip along Pine Street to the town limits and replacing broken sidewalks on Pine Street. You may have read in the paper the lighting project has been canceled and that WYDOT grant has now been modified to fund this project. Replacement of the old sewer and water system in the areas that have not been upgraded is a MAJOR project and we are working on funding. Last and certainly not least, the water meter project is coming to an end. All the meters have been installed and we are about to enter the study period so we can determine our rate structure. I know we have problems and we are working on them, more on this subject later. Rest assured you will have the opportunity to provide input as decisions are made. YOU ARE NOT CURRENTLY BEING METERED FOR BILLING PURPOSES. YOUR BILL WILL REMAIN THE SAME FOR THE TIME BEING. Do not forget to bleed your system!
One last thing. I have heard the "new mayor" does not want dogs in the parks. To that I say, NONSENSE! I hope the dogs enjoy the parks as much I do. If you hear something you question, do us all a favor and give me a call, 307-231-3601. Or better yet, stop in and we will talk about it.
Thanks,
Bob Jones
Pinedale, Mayor
|
