2020-04-14 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mayor's State of the City report as received via Facebook Live. Councilmember Bryant seconded and all voted for. State of the City: 2020 Batesville,Arkansas Mayor Rick Elumbaugh This is my 14th year as your mayor and I am humbled by the faith and trust you have placed in me to guide the future of the City of Batesville. I am also extremely grateful that you have continued electing community minded individuals to the city council who are dedicated to continuing the progress our community has experienced over the past decade. Like many journeys in life,this month turned out much different from when I took office in 2007. My biggest challenge in 2007 was creating a plan to correct our outdated wastewater plant and updating our water infrastructure. In 2008,we faced the closing of GDX and White Rodgers plants along with the financial crisis. In those early years,the City of Batesville also had two "100-year flood"events within a two-week period. Back then, I honestly did not think there was anything else that could match the challenges that were thrown at our great city during that period. I had no idea that in 2020,our city would be facing a national pandemic.COVID- 19 has already changed many things in our daily life. It is difficult to grasp that our schools have moved to online,restaurants have gone to take out only, barber/beauty shops,sporting events,car races,and church services have all been affected,and it is especially difficult to not be able to sit down with friends and have your morning coffee.While it is hard to imagine that this could be happening,this great city has made so many great strides and we will continue to meet all of our challenges head on. Of course,the reality of COVID-19 is that it is here and our citizens and businesses are stepping up and doing amazing things to make sure our city comes back to normalcy as quickly as possible. There has been an abundance of groups making medical masks with the help of Marshall Dry Goods donating over 1,000 yards of material to the cause.The City of Batesville's Parks Department has implemented a free grocery delivery to individuals age 55 and older. Local churches are volunteering to all needs that individuals and families might have. I have had calls from restaurants that volunteered food for the cities fire and police and local families in need. All of our area schools are making sure that students and families are getting food and meals provided. I cannot say enough about the leadership of Mr.Gary Paxon and his dedicated staff at WRMC. They have been transparent from the beginning and continue to strive to keep our community safe.Governor Hutchison has done a magnificent job as well, keeping our great state informed on a daily basis. Representative Stu Smith and Senator James Sturch also continue to update the district regularly. The City of Batesville staff continues to provide our normal services.These include sanitation,roads, water,sewer,animal control,fire, police,code enforcement,and administrative offices. Of course,the community center and playgrounds will be closed temporarily, but I encourage citizens to continue using our greenway trails and walking paths. 2019 brought many things to be proud of. Each year I continue to thank city employees,the Chamber of Commerce, Main Street Batesville,local schools, businesses and our citizens for relentless support,vision and