Moving Right Along

I hope that all of you who read this post have jobs that you enjoy going to each day, that you feel valued by your supervisors and peers, and that you are recognized for the skills, knowledge, and ideas that you bring to the table and encouraged to share all of that.  West Fork has a talented staff and dedicated elected officials whose main concerns are to provide city services to all of us in town, to invest in our future and our children’s future, and to do this economically, efficiently, and with a service-minded attitude. 

   

I am amazed every week at how knowledgeable and skilled our staff is and impressed by how efficiently our city crews do their jobs.  I’m encouraged every time I hear someone say how well our volunteer firemen and EMT personnel take care of people in distress and how kind and attentive they are in the process.

    

We have dedicated and knowledgeable leadership with all of our department heads, commission members, supervisors, and elected officials.  What would I change from the previous administration?  To communicate with, work with, and utilize all these people.  Is everything right and perfect? No.  Are we moving in that direction? Yes. 

    

I have done away with the locked door policies and secret agendas and have insisted on open communication within and among all departments.  I have made efforts to keep the public informed of city activities through our web site, social networks, and City Administration marquee.  For those of you who are interested in what the city is working on, you can find all of that information in City Council, Parks and Recreation, Water and Sewer Commission, Planning Commission, and Police Commission agendas and minutes. Most of what is going on is discussed in blog pages and on our city website. 

I believe that the majority of our residents want the city to take care of the services and to grow our community without adding increasing or unnecessary financial burdens on them.  We’re doing that, and most of you trust that we will continue to do that.  A few of our residents can’t find much that's positive in our town.  That’s too bad because West Fork has so much that is right.

    

   

    

         

Sidewalks, Bike and Pedestrian Trails.

   I've been reading the posts on the Planning Commission Facebook page about sidewalks, bike and pedestrian trails. Here is some info that may help in this discussion. West Fork is currently involved with the NWA Alta Greenway group to design and develop local trails that tie into the Razorback Greenway from Bentonville to West Fork and including towns and communities east and west of that trail.
    Our first local meeting was October 22 for local and area residents to learn about the trail and offer ideas about local participation. Two representatives from Alta Greenway gave a presentation at the November council meeting, on my request, to bring the council and citizens up to speed. I am posting a link for you to go to their inter-active trail website. All of the information about these trails is on this website and , for us, is the interactive map where you can locate all the places in town and surrounding area that you think a bike and/or pedestrian trail would help tie our community together and give us opportunity for this recreational activity.
   The Alta-Greenway group will develop plans for West Fork and it's surrounding area to be presented in May at a public meeting. We can continue to have input in the trails' developments from this initial trail plan. I gave an update at the December council meeting and posted a comment from the mayor on the city website and will continue to do this so citizens can be informed. Here is the trails link nwabikepedplan.com