From the mayor’s desk: Meadow Martell

2024 is starting off for me with exciting news. I was offered an opportunity to travel with a friend in Europe. If you know me, I love to travel, and it is often hard to find a traveling companion. I really could not pass up the opportunity. I am leaving for the last week in January to visit my grandchildren in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It has been a while. It will be cold, but it will warm my heart to see my grandchildren. After Santa Fe I am flying to Portugal to spend some time there and then in Italy, including Sicily and Sardinia. It will be one of those lifetime bucket list trips. Although it is hard to be gone for an extended period of time, I am grateful to have a neighbor who takes care of my dog and keeps the home fires burning.
Cave Junction has a competent staff that work well together. I know that our public works director and our city recorder/administrator will keep everything running smoothly and everyone on task. Council President Jean Ann Miles will step in during my absence.
I am happy to report that contractors have been doing their best to continue making progress on the splash pad in between rain showers. I am reasonably confident that it will be ready for play time this summer.
Contractors are making progress on the Rockydale Well Restoration Project which will bring online a new water resource for the city. On the west side of the highway a waterline, hydrant, and future tie-in location for the Forks State Park have been installed. This will be good news for the park.
Our collections crew has begun its annual videoing of the city’s sewer mainlines. The crew is looking for anything out of the ordinary that may need fixing, such as cracks in pipes, separated joints, poor construction, root intrusion and foreign objects. The state requires that we camera our entire system every 5 years. A portion of our approximately 14.5 miles of pipe is done every year so the entire system can be completed on time.
This is just one example of the complex requirements expected of a city that takes significant staff time and expensive equipment to accomplish. Your sewer and water bills help pay for this. Please be kind and polite with our front desk staff when you come in to pay your bill. They are not the enemy.