FROM THE MAYOR

Another year has come and gone.  The older I get the faster they pass. 

Our city is like a lot of others, the economy is bad and revenues are unpredictable.  Our former Mayor Bill Ratchford had the foresight to put three taxes in front of our city’s voters.  These taxes have been a life saver for this city.  We have a Parks and Storm Water Tax which allows us to maintain the park and pool.  We have the Capital Improvement Tax which helps us to take care of our infrastructure. (Streets, buildings etc).  We have an Economic Development Tax.  This tax allowed us to do the Comprehensive Plan, the revision of our ordinances (the process is currently over half way done), and the revitalization of our Planning and Zoning Manual (the process will begin shortly) which identifies which businesses can go where, what kind of businesses we allow etc.  Without Bill’s foresight and you the voters’ willingness to vote for them per the Hancock Act our city would really be in bad shape.

We have been contemplating uses for the Park which is surrounded by Lindscott, Guthrie, Herbert and Stansberry.  If you have any suggestions please drop them by City Hall or email us at Cityclerk@woodsonterrace.net.

We also are contemplating a few other projects for the future.  There is a need to replace the park building in John L. Brown Park.   It is economically smarter to demolish this building and replace it with another. There has been no final decision.  We are also exploring the possibility of another pavilion and possibly and archery range.  Again no definitive decision has been made.  We have discussed upgrading the facilities on the James F. Traube fields.

We do intend to create sidewalks that will make pedestrian traffic safer on certain well used streets in the city.  We are looking into some different ways to make access to our city easier for different types of traffic.  We intend to explore a shuttle that will allow access to the Metro-Link line and the Airport.  We are always discussing ways to include more programs our Park and City offerings. Any suggestions on these can be dropped by, emailed, or told to any of the city staff from the clerks to the board, or even myself.  We are always happy to hear from you.

Mayor Besmer