It's been a whirlwind year for me and probably many of you. Time flies. We accomplished a lot this year. I was reading City Manager Scott Kornegay's Year in Review earlier this morning and - WHEW - I needed a nap when I was done. ;-) But seriously, we made some tremendous progress and had a lot of fun along the way. Here's a shortlist of projects completed and set for 2019:
We solidified city infrastructure by finishing the new public works building at Sunrise Park, paving a new employee parking lot at city hall and installing a new digital sign.
With the Rotary Club of Keystone Heights, we successfully hosted the 2nd Annual Mayor's Ball at the Keystone Airpark in March. It was an incredible event and I invite all of you to save the date, March 23rd, for the 3rd Annual Mayor's Ball. We will be releasing more information about this in the near future. Proceeds were used to complete Phase 1 of the Lake Butler-Palakta Rails-to-Trails trail head located between Wendy's and CVS on SR-100. This is a wonderful example of creating eco-tourism in the Keystone Heights area.
We were notified that our application for a $46k DEP RTP grant was approved which will augment a Clay County Board of County Commissioner allocation of $175k which will complete Phase 2 of the trail head. I am really excited to get this phase underway in 2019.
And, I am super proud of the five seniors we swore in as the first Mayor's Youth Advisory Council. This group will show you a little something over the next several months.
We are preparing for a seven-mile SR-21 DOT road rehab project in Fall 2019. This is a game changer for downtown Keystone Heights. All of the stakeholders have been at the table and everyone has been super cooperative. Once the dust has settled, I think you'll find we've served residents - and visitors to Keystone Heights - a hand up.
Near the tennis courts you'll find a new EV (Electric Vehicle) charging station designed to aid travelers from Jacksonville to Gainesville. I mean, it's just cool.
And here's my promise to you in 2019. I promise you, I will find as many opportunities as possible to engage as many of you as I can. I want to involve you. I will listen to your ideas. I want you to contribute to our progress.
I am a borderless mayor.
Getting closer to the ball dropping...
Happy New Year, Keystone Heights.
/k