HomeMy WebLinkAboutNewsletter City_January 2017Mayor’s Message
M AR K YO U R
C AL E N D AR
J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 7
City Council Meeting
January 4TH & 18TH
@ 6:30pm in the
council chambers
Christmas tree pick
up will begin Jan 3rd
through Jan 16th. Put
your tree at the curb
for pick up.
All city offices will be
closed January 16TH-
for Martin Luther
King Jr. Day
City Hall Office hours
are changing, the new
hours will be:
Monday-Thursday
7:30am-5:30pm
Friday 7:30am-
12:30pm
Parking Reminder:
parking on City
Streets over night is
prohibited starting
December 15th.
Well, here we are in a brand new year! It seems like 2016 just flew by and my first year as Mayor is
now in the history books. People ask me often, how I like being Mayor and I can honestly say I love
it. Rexburg is home to so many wonderful people that give of their time and means to volunteer in
many of our city programs and committees along with our dedicated city staff and that makes my
job much easier and enjoyable.
We are experiencing a very cold and snowy year so far, which is awesome because we definitely
need the moisture to fill our reservoirs and the aquifer needs a good recharge as well. That also
means we have to do a lot of snow removal. I, like you, have had the experience of just getting the
driveway shoveled and then the city snowplow comes by and plows a dike of snow right back into it.
A few people have asked why we do it that way and it really comes down to economics. It would
cost many times as much for our street crews to have to clean each driveway out or to plow to the
middle and haul it away as we do on Main Street. We simply do not have the manpower or the
budget to do either one of those methods on our residential streets.
I have found over the years there are actually some positives to the "dreaded snow dike". It is a
great opportunity to get your kids out and work beside them. My kids actually seemed to enjoy the
time we spent working together (well, maybe not every time, but most of the time) and now that
they’re grown they thank me for teaching them a strong work ethic and it has paid off for them in
other pursuits such as missions, jobs, etc. Snow removal also provides great opportunities to serve
others as we work together in our neighborhoods to help the older folks and others that struggle to
do it themselves. My kids helped some of our neighbors as service and others, who had the means,
actually hired them to clear their snow and it was a good learning experience in being responsible
and reaping the reward for a job well done. All the businesses that sell snow blowers in town, I'm
sure, are also very appreciative of the business that the big snows bring and that helps the local
economy as well.
Speaking of service, I was reading a blog about the upcoming, Martin Luther King holiday. The Blog-
ger suggests that instead of just having this as a day off, we observe this day by doing a specific act
of service for someone else as Dr. King exemplified in his life of service to others. I challenge each of
us to do a kind act for someone else on that day and everyday and let’s use this holiday to remind
ourselves that service to others is the hallmark of great family community and that's what I hope we
all want to be.
If you need some ideas for simple service please check out the following blog: http://
learnthis.ca/2010/02/100-ways-to-serve-others/ . I especially like #47 for this era of technology.
Happy New Year everyone!!
Sincerely, Jerry Merrill