Wabash Communications will start marketing their internet services in Fairfield, according to management. The city and Wabash established a relationship last year which led to a citywide survey to determine current internet speeds. The construction will be off fiberoptic main lines moving from the west to the east. Crews will be seen in town in the next few months.
I met with representatives from Commonwealth Engineers Inc. and Ivan Dozier of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) last week on the advice of Engineer Jerry Quindry. The topic was watershed retention and flood prevention along Johnson Creek. Commonwealth is an Indiana-based engineering firm which specializes on dams and water control projects. NRCS might be one funding source. At the same moment we were meeting, I received word from FEMA that they were revising Fairfield’s Risk Map for flooding. It is much different than the one currently on file…leading me to believe it is the first done since the dam breach. If accepted, the new map could have serious consequences for the properties which border Johnson Creek and its tributaries. More to follow.
The street and bridge crews performed admirably last week. I got calls about Commerce Drive and discovered from the state that they did not see it as their responsibility during a snow/ice event. We will handle it in the future.
We have 11 people who have taken out police applications and five for fire. It is our goal to get at least 15 police candidates for testing on February 26th with a mandatory pre-meeting on February 25th.
Ron Ragan of UGM, our gas consultant, reports a stable gas market. There was a minor polar vortex last week that did not result in a big price swing. UGM continues to assess our current situation and will recommend future hedging strategies.
McDonald’s is slated to start construction on its new facility in Fairfield on May 5th.
