Bonners Ferry accomplishes much in 2011

December 30, 2011

By Bonners Ferry Mayor David Anderson This is the time of year we look back at the successes and challenges of the past year and look forward to the challenges and opportunities of the coming year, both personally and as a city organization. The City of Bonners Ferry has accomplished a number of things this year. While new construction was down, we did install a number of new utility services, including the new Kaniksu Health Center and the Border Patrol station. We have continued to invest effort on sidewalks and parking, with our big street projects this year being the Alderson Lane sidewalk and resurfacing project. We also continued to maintain our infrastructure with concrete repair on the Moyie Dam, major structural work on the roof of our steel water tank and levee repairs. Our city fire department has continued to work hard to upground our fire equipment and fleet. A number of the upgrades made this year came from donations by larger fire departments and grants from organizations as diverse as the Union Pacific Railroad and the Trans Canada Pipeline. Under the American Reinvestment program, the City of Bonners Ferry, the City of Moyie Springs and Boundary County were able to work together to do a significant number of energy conservation programs. The public buildings that received better windows, insulation, lighting and heating systems will provide a return for the tax payers of our community for years to come. These buildings included the Moyie Springs Fire Hall and shop, the Boundary County Restorium, Boundary Community Hospital, Bonners Ferry City Hall and the Bonners Ferry Fire Hall. Another focus over the past couple of years has been to extend the life of the Boundary County Landfill by increasing recycling. The city has worked with the Frederickson's Bonners Ferry Garbage Company and installed two recycling test sites in town. With the success of these sites, the city will move forward and weigh the cost benefit of these sites and develop options. Another project we focused on this year was the new Super 1 grocery store. To facilitate this project, the city formed an urban renewal agency, or URA, a formal district which allows for financing of public infrastructure. The public infrastructure associated with the Super 1 store include a center turn bay on Highway 95, rebuilding a section of Kennedy Street and the installation of significant water and sewer infrastructure. Looking forward to next year, we know that we will need to continue to maintain the significant infrastructure of which we are stewards. There will be more concrete work on the Moyie Dam, the water transmission line across Deep Creek will be replaced and some of the old four-inch water lines in town will be replaced. Over most of the past decade, we have focused on our water system; looking forward, our focus will likely be on the city's sewer system. While these systems need maintenance just like any system installed by our grandparent's generation, the biggest driver now are the ever increasing Environmental Protection Agency regulations by which we must abide. We have seen a number of personnel changes over the past year; perhaps the most notable being the upcoming retirement of Bonners Ferry Police Chief Rick Alonzo after 20 years with the city. His contributions to the city aren't ending, as he'll soon be taking the City Council seat he was recently elected to. Jeannie Robinson and Dan Williams both retired this year, and we gained new employees Kevin Cossairt, Willie Cowell, Eddy Invernon and Sunny Kimball. The city employee voted by her co-workers as "Most Valuable Worker" this year was Christine McNair. With the great citizens we as a City server with our exceptional employee team, we are ready to face whatever challenges arise in 2012, and we are ready to grab opportunities as they come along.