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From the mayor’s desk: by Meadow Martell

I get a lot of questions about what is happening with the Junction Inn. This is the current update. First keep in mind that this has been and will remain a slow process. As frustrating and slowly this has moved along, courts do not hastily make decisions when it comes to taking someone’s property. A judgement has been filed and signed by the judge allowing the city to file a lien against the property. That is the next step. After years of negotiating, the city has finally finished with the owner based on their clear history of not following through on their promises. Contrary to rumors being spread, the city does not already own the property. If the city forecloses on the property and ends up owning it, the objective will be to sell the property to an entity that will put in a new hotel. We would try and work with the existing businesses; however, we want to be careful to not seriously limit potential buyers.
Projects are steadily moving forward in Jubilee Park. The Parks and Recreation Commission continues the work on finalizing the plans for the spray pad. The next step is pouring sidewalks all the way around the playground and expanding the playground area 26 feet south. This will provide the space to put in some new playground equipment including a handicap teeter totter, a handicap solo swing, and whirl-a-gig merry go round. The new surface will be a gravel layer covered by 3 ½ inches of rubber mulch with a 1 ½ inch top pours of a finished rubber surface. Some of this work may depend on good weather.
We have a tentative start date of Sept. 19 for the Watkins and 199 water line replacement. At times there may be some closures at Watkins, however, Highway 199 traffic should not be impacted. This is a big project, and we are hoping that it will not take more than five weeks to finish.
Although the weather seems to be is changing, fire season is still upon us. Disaster preparedness is not just about wildfires. There are other natural disasters that can happen in our area, and you will sleep better if you and your family have a plan and are prepared. FEMA has an easy Emergency Supply list to help you get your to-go-bag: https://www.ready.gov/sites/default/files/2021-02/ready_checklist.pdf.
There are also free preparedness downloads at https://roguepreparedness.com/how-to-start-prepping/.
Don’t wait until it is too late!