Action Advertiser - Progress Edition (1/23/09)

2009 TOP STORIES IN FOND DU LAC CITY GOVERNMENT 

Quick now, who won last year's Super Bowl?  And what was the biggest story in City of Fond du Lac government in 2008.  You'd be factually correct on the first question and probably get little argument on the second, if you said the New York Giants and the flood of June 2008,  But in a world of informational excess and instant communication we swiftly move on to the next "big" game and story, rarely lingering on yesterday's news.  We are left though with the potential for important lessons learned from our history. The impact and significance of what happened in 2009 must still fully play out, but here is one view of the year's top stories that shaped the history of City of Fond du Lac government. 

We regularly see "top 10" lists so let's limit this one to nine.  Number nine is the project that has resulted in successfully removing radium from our drinking water.  A solution to the thorny problem of iron-clogged filters stands in the way of project completion.  City staff together with the consulting engineer and equipment vendor continue efforts to resolve that issue.  Changes in the top management structure of both the police and fire departments comes in at number eight.  Those changes bring more clarity to the departments' command structures and better use the capabilities of senior management.   

In a down economy, the City library logged record circulation as citizens stretched their available bucks by tuning in to the library's free information resources; that is our number seven story.  Storm water ponds are number six. The City will be building more than 15 of them over the next few years in order to comply with mandates from the Department of Natural Resources to clean up the water that ultimately flows into local rivers and Lake Winnebago.  Discussions concerning building a pond on the Fairgrounds property earned high profile attention in 2009.

Fond du Lac was a player in gaining stimulus money from the federal government and the number five story is the funds received from federal programs to bolster local transportation, police services and energy programs.  A recurring concern over our past two severe winters was the availability of road salt.  In 2009, the City built a large salt-storage shed giving us the capability of stockpiling a winter's worth of salt.  And, I say this with a smile as I write in late January, also guaranteeing us a mild winter.  That is our number four story.  

Solving the 32-year-old, cold-case murder of a young woman new to our community was the year's number three story.  Dogged police work and a strong prosecutorial effort delivered the murderer to long-delayed justice and brought some measure of peace to family and law enforcement officials.  A sleeper perhaps at number two - the finalization of the City's Comprehensive Plan.  This plan, developed over two years and required by the State, becomes the template for the future growth of our City in terms of land use.  Additionally, it addresses, among other topics: transportation, housing, utilities and economic development.

The number one story of the year is economic development.  Of course, it is headlined by the cliff-hanging saga of Mercury Marine's decision to remain in Fond du Lac after weeks of public and behind-the-scenes intrigue that touched all of us in some way.  The opening of the Fox Ridge Business Park with a highly visible tenant in Chicago Tube & Iron and significant growth in the Southwest Industrial Park gave us a reminder that the economic conditions grievously impacting so many are also accompanied by new opportunities for our community. 

We emerge bruised and bloodied to varying degrees by the events of 2009, but confident that in a national environment that proved difficult for all, our City remains a great place to live, work, learn and play.