Coldwell considers Troy options

Editor’s Note: The Western News talked to Troy Mayor-elect Darren Coldwell after his election victory earlier this month. Excerpts from that interview are included.

What was your first reaction when you heard you were elected?

OK, here we go. I was a bit humbled, but excited. I think we have a real good crew with the City Council. I don’t think anyone has an agenda. Everyone is looking forward with fresh ideas. I am excited.

What is Troy? What is this town about?

Having grown up here and leaving and then coming back, Troy is one of the best communities in the Northwest. We have the recreation with the lake and the hiking and the hunting and the fishing. We get great weather in the summer and fall and spring. It’s a place where everybody knows everybody.

It’s a great place to raise kids. A great family atmosphere. This is a very nonjudgmental place. We have a lot of people who have retired here. We have taken them in like they have been here forever.

Mayor Brown has said he looks forward to taking you out for a drive and talking things through. What are your biggest questions for him?

City charter, policies, contracts. There is just so much stuff to absorb. Luckily, I have six weeks or so to look at the budget and see how things are functioning. My biggest questions are where we can and can’t spend. It is really regulated, especially for someone who has owned his own business for 22 years. There, I can just make the decision. (The city) doesn’t go that way.

I hear a lot of complaints about the new water system. It seems some people are paying for something they do not use.

Yeah, I’ve read the City Council minutes on those complaints. I think some of the problem now is that they have a loan right now that is at a fairly high interest on $2 million. It is pushing 5 percent. If we can get that refinanced down it should help. There is another loan that is for almost $2 million at three-quarter of a point. That is a four-point difference and that is a ton of money a month.

I agree with them. I can’t say outright: Yes, it will be shut off and we won’t charge you any more. But I think when we refinance there will be a lot more options. It looks like in July or so that fund will be in the black again. It is in the red right now. Then we can do some more creative things and make it nicer for the snowbirds or the business owners. If you aren’t using it, you should not have to pay for it.

Do you have any plans for drilling another well?

Right now, I couldn’t tell you. I’ve been through the well-drilling situation before. My wife and I went nearly 900 feet and didn’t hit water. I know that was the situation for another well Troy attempted.

So, to tell you yes, I can’t say. It is a spending venture to jump into. I will have to do more looking at that.

Do you have any plans on relieving Troy’s Police Department of its dog catching duties?

That is something on my yellow notepad to talk about. But, I think initially there was a huge onslaught that we cannot perform without this. The community did not come to an end.

I don’t know exactly where (Police Chief) Bob (McLeod) stands on it, but I would say personally, being conservative when it comes to numbers, if we don’t need to have it, that I would not replace the dog catcher. That is something Bob and I will look through. If we don’t need it, let’s not create the position.

What should people in Troy be excited about?

Whole new energy. All of us have new ideas and fresh understandings of where we want to take the community with potential business growth. Troy has had such a bad rap in the state. I was talking to the girls in City Hall, and she said they’ve tried some things and been told they would not work with us until Troy gets their ducks in a row.

So, hopefully, we can build a new rapport with the state. I have some ideas with calling in the retired businesspeople who moved into the area. I have offers from people willing to join an economic committee. We have funds available that have been sitting for five, six years for economic development and recruiting.

What ideas do you have with that money?

I was on the Port Authority for a long time, and it’s a lot of cold calling and invitations. Right now, to say we are going to have someone move in, I cannot say. But I want to start making the effort.

(Mayor) Tony acquired all that property down by the museum and we have an opportunity to give incentive to move as far as property goes. It’s all there and there is a lot of it.

What are your thoughts on the proposed fitness trail at Roosevelt Park?

I think it’s a great idea for Troy. I’m all for it.

What else should Troy know?

I have an open-door policy. I will let them know my office hours in January. I will set up times I will be there so they can call the city and set up appointments. Any complaints, they are welcome to sit down and hash it out.