Troy mayor reflects on centennial year progress
Troy Mayor Darren Coldwell is proud of the city’s accomplishments in 2015 and is looking forward to even more success in the new year. Troy’s centennial year brought a number of aesthetic and structural improvements, as well as investments in public services.
Coldwell said Troy’s biggest accomplishment for the year was the purchase of three new police vehicles.
Coldwell attributed the grants for the new patrol cars to the work of Troy city council treasurer Tracy Rebo, who worked with the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development for six months to procure the grants. According to Coldwell, the cost of the new patrol cars would have been $30,000 each, and the grants that the city received were in the amounts of $75,000 and $10,000. He said the second grant was used to purchase the light bars, cages and push bars for the patrol cars.
“We saved thousands of dollars,” said Coldwell.
In addition to the new patrol cars, Coldwell said the city also has new sidewalks and that each street on Highway 2 has directional signs that point to important areas of the city.
Coldwell also attributed the year’s success to the renovation of two of the city’s major landmarks: the Troy Museum was repainted and had new Christmas lights installed, and the old caboose was refinished.
Coldwell said the city made the renovations to those landmarks in preparation for Troy’s centennial. On the weekend beginning Friday, Sept. 11 and ending Sunday, Sept. 13, Troy celebrated its 100th year since its recognition as a city.
Coldwell said that while the city has had major success due to all the improvements, he still has even more planned for 2016.
According to Coldwell, the city is planning on installing new signs, improving the city’s outdoor recreation facilities and installing a new medical facility in town.
Coldwell said the city plans to install new welcome signs at opposite ends of the city to welcome visitors. The recreation facilities, he said, would help to provide more reasons for people to visit Troy as well as additional opportunities for local recreationists.
Coldwell elaborated on the plans for outdoor recreation improvement, saying that plans have been made to create a new bicycle rest stop, which he said would be called “Pedalers’ Park.” He said the stop will consist of six tent-only campsites, some coin-operated indoor showers for public use, new bicycle racks and new park benches. The benches, he said, would be villa-style benches, placed all through the park and Troy Museum walking areas.
The Troy Museum will also get a new flag and flagpole. According to Coldwell, the new pole will measure around 50 feet and the flag will be 12 feet long by eight feet wide.
Finally, the city will receive a new medical facility, which will serve as a Troy branch of the Northwest Community Health Center in Libby. The new facility is planned at around 4,000 square feet in a different location than the original leased space. Construction is estimated to take about a year. To accomplish this, Northwest CHC plans to take advantage of a grant it received in September for $710,850.
The planned projects, Coldwell said, are still being budgeted. He said that the flagpole, bike racks and benches would be paid for through a community improvement grant of $9,000, but that for the rest of the projects, it was too early to give a cost estimate.
Coldwell estimated work on the new additions to start in the springtime, as soon as the city gets favorable weather. He was unable to give an estimate for an ending time for the projects.