Fall 2011 Isantian Article

We have had quite an eventful summer and are looking forward to another amazing fall in Isanti. We have a number of new businesses being built; and others are opening their doors in familiar locations. The east TH 65 construction projects are going up, which will house new facilities.  The Urbans’ have reopened Hardware Hank on County Road 5 NE and Dale Matson of Isanti Bicycle Repair has opened his shop on Main Street. There are many more new businesses opening, and many existing businesses that are expanding like Granger Machine and Pat’s Small Engines which have been growing strongly. We continue to have involved business owners like Dori Johnson of Charisma Boutique on County Road 5 and Mark Rojas of Bear Books on Main Street; whose owners are not only running great businesses, but are working hard to make Isanti an even better place to live, work and play. My space limits me but there are so many dedicated individuals and businesses that make Isanti an amazing place.

I want to thank the Sponsors of the 2011 Mayor’s Great Yard Award for their support and dedication to help positively impact our Community - Melissa Hutchens DDS is our 1^st place sponsor, Startac Construction is our 2^nd place sponsor and KJD Signs sponsors 3^rd place. 

The 2012 budget has been coming together over the past few months and we will once again not be raising taxes or cutting any services. We have continued to trim the City budget and will be spending less in 2012 than we did in 2006, my first year as Mayor. When our County, State and Federal levels of government have continued to spend more and more, we have been able to rethink how government should function. We have made real cost cuts throughout City operations to ensure the most efficient level of service possible. We reduced systemic costs by negotiating Union contracts that have helped to share the cost of healthcare more evenly with our City employees while maintaining proper staffing levels. The City general fund balance as a percentage of our yearly budget is higher than at any point in modern history which allows us to weather the difficult economic storm we are facing. We should be proud of the work we have done.

We are completing the final stage of our planned replacement of old City infrastructure that had in years past been failing and causing significant damage to public and private property. We have in recent years replaced gravel roads with paved roads, built our water treatment facility to rid us of cancer causing radium, replaced decaying sewer lines and added new underground power lines; all to better serve our community. The replacement of failing and inadequate infrastructure is not the most exciting topic but it provides the strong foundation and security for future generations to thrive.

My goal as Mayor has been to get Isanti’s fiscal house in order, grow our business community, diversify our tax base and make sure all the proper infrastructure is in place to serve our current and future needs. The next Mayor will have a strong position to work from in taking our community into an even brighter future.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns please contact me at George@georgewimmer.com or call/text 763-442-8749. You may also read my news and notes at www.georgewimmer.blogspot.com, follow me on twitter at http://twitter.com/MayorWimmer or Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/GeorgeAWimmer .