Libby Mayor delivers State of the City Address

The Western News

With the new year comes time for reflection on the past year, as well as a look ahead.

On Wednesday, Libby Mayor Tony Berget will be doing just that at the Libby Chamber of Commerce luncheon with his State of the City Address.

Berget plans to discuss the many projects the city of Libby crew has performed in the last 12 months, including replacing water mains such as the mains in the 300 block of Montana Avenue in front of the newly-constructed Libby Volunteer Ambulance Barn. Also, 60 feet of water mains were replaced on 8th Street in Libby. Over 300 total feet of water mains were replaced within the city during 2007, Berget said.

In 2007, city crews, which includes four to five employees, also plowed snow five times and there were 358 dump truck loads of snow removed from the city streets. Crews also sprayed 10,000 gallons of de-icer on the streets at 88 cents per gallon.

The number of building permits issued within the city increased from 2006. In 2007, 55 building permits were issued, up from 47 issued in 2006. The construction value of those permits increased four-fold, with the value of 2006 construction reaching $449,575 and the value of 2007 construction reached $1,863,971, according to information provided by Berget.

In 2007, 38 residential permits were issued — including 12 new homes and one new duplex. In 2006, 21 permits were issued with two new homes included in the construction.

In the coming months the city plans to continue water main replacement, replace some sidewalks and look at financing to bring sewer service to Cabinet Heights, Berget continued. Although sewer line work is also on the schedule, it's not an immediate priority.

"The sewer is not in too bad a shape," Berget explained. "There are some bad spots here and there."

Crews will also flush fire hydrants, test flows for fire protection and continue sweeping streets every Friday in the summer as time and resources allow. There are also 40 acres of lawn that need to be maintained.

In addition, the city does work with the Tree Board and will be helping with Riverfront Park improvements. Berget would also like to be a part of the downtown revitalization plan of replacing a few blocks of street lights. Cooperation between the city and a volunteer group trying to bring tennis courts to the area is also on Berget's list.

"It would be nice to see upgraded courts," he said.

A project that occurred in December 2007 is also one of the improvements brought to the city. Video conferencing was installed to allow judges to video conference with inmates without the inmates leaving the jail. This will safe transportation costs and improve safety, Berget said.

Many of the projects Berget will be discussing are a cooperation between the city of Libby and Lincoln County, Berget explained.

In 2007, the city purchased its first brand new piece of equipment in over a decade, which was a front-end loader. The city also worked with the county to purchase the county's dump truck, Berget said.