City commission goals

Friday’s city commission meeting for Arkansas City is the beginning of the budgeting process, but it will also be a new beginning of sorts.
In the early morning session, the commissioners will hear from department heads about where they have been and where they want to go.
With two new commissioners there could be some new directions for the city.
The afternoon session will involve more goal setting by commissioners.
City Manager Steve Archer hopes to get a good idea of what direction the city will take, and what direction he will take as a result of the city’s goal setting.
“My goal is to get what the commissioners want and work that into the budget and then go from there,” he said.
Archer imposed a three-percent reduction this year, which was a precautionary move in the face of a weak economy.
Sales tax revenues, at least, are in good shape, Archer said. The city is still waiting to see what will happen with property tax revenues.

Commissioner Patrick McDonald sees growth as the top issue and that will be his main goal.
There are a lot of projects going on at present, and he sees that as a positive. Things like the Hospital, street projects, the Kansas Ave. overpass, the roundabout, the hike and bike trail and the school building project.
“We are jumping really,” he said.
He feels the commission has let go of some opportunities – the Lowes project for one – and hopes to try to steer the city back in that direction.
“We need people, business and industry. We need to encourage all of them, all aspects. We need to look at our options to see what we can do to encourage them,” he said.

Commissioner Dotty Smith said she wants to hear more from the department heads, and to get more information from the public.
She wants to get the hospital finished. That and the street projects are her top priorities.
The city has already listed several street projects that will be paid for by the sales tax passed by voters last November. She would still like to have citizen input on the projects.
She would also like to get the hike and bike trail finished. She said the city has done all it can on that, and is waiting for the state. She would also like to develop the West Chestnut area where the bridge is, to make it more usable for public recreation.

New Commissioner Jean Snell wants to focus on growth and development.
"You cant stand still," he said.
He said there are some things developing and he wants to not get in the way of that process.
He hopes the new commission has a different mindset, which is one of the things he said during the campaign before the election.


I hope to get comments from other commissioners later today concerning goals for the city.