To the citizens of Iola,
As mayor, I want to present a vision of what Iola can be.
We all know the challenges that face our fair city in that we need to maintain and attract new business, counteract a falling population, and address an aging housing stock.
There are no simple answers to any of these problems, but they all have one common denominator infrastructure. That is, our streets, and our gas, electrical, water and sewer systems.
Now is the time to double down and fix these aging systems, not cut funding and ignore the problems.
For too long we have recognized the problems we face but have not resolved to fix them by dedicating the necessary resources. We have all received the benefits of our forefathers visions, but for generations we have not sufficiently paid for those services.
Now is the time to replace the aging pipes that underlie our streets and the electric generators in our power plant. We are living on 19th and 20th century infrastructure in the 21st century.
Now is the time to plan for not only our children but also our grandchildren.
If we want to attract new business, we need to be able to provide them with reliable services, including the diverse and sustainable forms of energy they request. We need to be able to provide them with places to build. The industrial park is a perfect example of that type of vision. If we look to the north we have Cedar-brook phases I and II. There is a phase III planned, but without roads, electric, water and sewer connections, the new addition is impossible. Now is the time to complete Cottonwood, to expand Kentucky and to provide the basic services developers request.
Now is not the time to sell out our future for short-term political points.
While many will congratulate council members for not raising water rates, I cannot accept such a vision. We must not look just at today, but 10, 15, 20 years into the future.
To replace $20 million worth of water lines a fraction of the total value of our system in 50 years would require the city to spend an additional $400,000 a year. Currently that fund loses almost $300,000 a year.
While there are certainly cuts and efficiencies we will find, that phrase has become a false idol; pleasant in appearance but too often tossed around carelessly, rhetorically hollow, and devoid of serious thought to the consequences of the actions. As a state we have tried to cut our way to prosperity, only to put our infrastructure, schools and budget in a dire situation. Let us not make the same mistake.
Now is the time for us to make tough choices, for us to acknowledge that for too long we have neglected our broken streets and pipes, and that we need to invest in our utilities.
Sincerely,
