I see the need to have informal committees assigned to gather information about certain projects or areas of concern, but then I feel that the committee should divulge all of their gathered information to the entire council to that we can make an informed decision based upon the findings of the committee. The committee should only gather information to aid the overall council in the final decision making process. I agree that the city needs to have an annual allotment of funds to help with the overlaying streets, but it would not be prudent for someone who does not know the entire city budget to decide on a figure without seeing the entire budget and the priorities that are set. I do, however, believe that a certain amount of funding should be set aside every year to street overlaying, otherwise this becomes overlooked and becomes an overwhelming project for the city to take on. It would be very beneficial for the city to maintain this project on a yearly basis.
Annexation is almost certain to be an issue facing the next council and mayor.
At this time I am not in favor of annexing any more areas until we have completed all of the promises to the areas that have been annexed previously. Once we have fulfilled all of our commitments to these areas, then we might look at annexing more of the surrounding area. The issue will likely come up again in the next four years. This has been an issue for many years in our city. I feel that the decision should belong to the community.