Wallace Mayor Charley Farrior delivered his “State of the Town” message to the Wallace Chamber of Commerce in what has become an annual tradition. The mayor reported that:
· After 12 years in working to build a new waste treatment plant, the project is underway and near completion.
· A new fire truck, able to spray both water and foam, has been purchase to replace an older engine. Hopefully, the acquisition of this piece of equipment will result in lower the insurance premiums for businesses.
· The Wallace Women's Club building which was damaged by arsonists, has been restored, and is available for rental.
· Plans are in the works to extend the existing runway at the Wallace airport by relocating the road adjacent to the airport into an adjacent field. A longer runways allows for larger aircraft to land in Wallace.
· After six years of dedicated effort to resolve the issues with the storm drainage system in Wallace, the success of those efforts was realized in the past weeks of record rainfall. Streets and drainage areas that previously would have flooded, performed very well with the recent 19 inches of rain.
· The Wallace Depot is now complete with the completion of the shed restoration project. The work was performed entirely by volunteers, and funded through donations.
· The implementation of Radio Read Meters has resulted in a cost saving to the town of $33,975.00 and has resulted in more accurate meter reading and billing.
· Mayor Farrior announced a that a new member of the Wallace Police Force has been hired with the acquisition of a K-9 Officer.
Mayor Farrior pointed to the positive growth spearheaded by the move Walmart made to US 41 Hwy., and the positive and negative results of the businesses that located with them. While the move has resulted in 2 additional shopping centers being built, and new businesses locating in Wallace because of that, it has also meant that existing businesses moved with the retailers. Some of those businesses were from the downtown area. Mayor Farrior expressed the concern that the Town Board feels over the situation, and announced that a meeting is scheduled with various members of the business community and two outside consultants. One of the consultants was instrumental in the efforts that gave birth to the Wallace Revitalization Association years ago.
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