I've neglected this page again, a habit I have to break. It's just so easy to get caught up in everything either already on the desk or happening on job sites or out in other departments.
The summer of 2010 was really quite remarkable in retrospect. Hopefully most people will find the majority of the efforts to be quite positive.
-New Trash program
-NWSW Demolition
-$1,000,000 in forgivable loans from EPA
-Demo project in the 600 block of E. 3rd Street
-$2.7million in grants for abandoned and foreclosed home repair
-New Menard's under construction
-Buffalo Wild Wings Opening
-New Kohl's/PetSmart under construction and the old Wal*mart demolished
-The 14"Mill was sold while we continue cleanup work with EPA Grants behind it
-The most street work ever done with the exception of 1996-97 when the MFT bonds were issued thanks to the local option sales tax and stimulus funds
-VA Clinic announced in Sterling
-Continued sewer separation projects
-Created an Administrative Hearing process to speed up cases and ease the case load of an overwhelmed Whiteside County Circuit Court
-Started the planning process for the future of the riverfront
It's been incredible, but that's really just scratching the surface!
It has taken lot of work to get this much accomplished in a down economy without breaking the bank. There has been assistance from the feds, grant writing, cooperation from the county, help from Sterling Today, the Greater Sterling Development Corporation, U of I Extension, and Rock Island Renaissance. Most importantly, we've had a Council willing to look at new ideas and cooperating with others to bring good things here. I can't say enough about the people I get to work with and that help the City do this. I probably owe a whole post about the great people that work in the background and keep a positive attitude! It's not always sunshine and roses, but we have to keep ourselves pointed in that direction to overcome the negatives.
