From the mayor’s desk: Meadow Martell

It’s been a while since my last letter. I spent seven days on the Wild and Scenic Rogue River. I am grateful that we live in an amazing place with so many outdoor opportunities. Hot sunny days are here so be safe out there and be extra cautious about increased fire danger.
There is a lot happening in our small city. Concerts in the Park are on Thursdays from 6 – 8 p.m. Come enjoy some relaxing time with your neighbors and friends. I was on the river for the Car Show, but heard it was a great success. The second annual Soap Box Derby race happened on Saturday. It was great fun and a lot of people turned out to watch the creative entries compete. This event is growing and I’m expecting even more entries next year. This is just a small snapshot of happenings in our community. Check out: llinoisvalleyweb.org/calendar/.
Fun things can’t happen without Cave Junction’s hard-working and competent staff in the background keeping things running smoothly. Among its many other duties, administrative staff continue to work in partnership with Josephine Community Library District to expand our library. Planning is on track and construction is scheduled to begin this summer.
The Public Works Department is on top of the continual maintenance necessary to keep services up and running. The city lost one of the mixer motors for the Sludge Digester Lagoon and will be sending this motor up north for rebuilding. Public Works is currently looking at different ways to remove the solids that have been steadily building in the lagoon. We have been using microorganisms for the last 3-4 years to help reduce the amount of solids. However, we are coming up on the expected usefulness of these organisms and are going to have to find a mechanical way to remove solids.
The Water Treatment Plant had three failed control valves that have been successfully replaced with new electronic valves. With outside help, the process went smoothly. Instead of the estimated placement time of three days, with everyone’s help we were back online in one day.
Public Works has begun clearing the lot at 1500 Golf Course Dr for the new bulk water station scheduled to begin July 10. With any luck we will have some quotes on building the splash pad by the end of this week and we can choose a contractor and get that project into construction stage.