A message from Cedar City Mayor Maile Wilson
By Cedar City Mayor Maile Wilson
I can’t believe it is already May! It seems like I just blinked my eyes and another month had come and gone. I am hopeful that the arrival of May will bring us beautiful weather instead of having all four seasons in one day like we had this past month.
May also brings us to the end of another school year and the long-anticipated summer vacation. Congratulations to the many students who have graduated or will be graduating over the next few weeks! We are excited for you and the many adventures that are in your future. To quote Dr. Seuss, “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”
All of the city departments are busy this time of year. In the administrative offices, we have been finalizing the city budget for Fiscal Year 2018–19. It’s always a challenge to balance the needs and wants of all the city departments with the funds available! Staff will present the budget to city council May 2. Then May 23, the council will adopt the tentative budget, and June 6 the public hearing on the adoption of the final budget will take place. All of these meetings are open to the public and will be held at the city offices at 10 N. Main St. Agendas and minutes of these meetings are available at cedarcity.org.
Other city departmental spring and summer projects include the Public Works Department’s recent completion of the spring cleanup. Public Works crews are also preparing for a busy summer full of projects maintaining our city’s infrastructure. The cemetery will be starting its cleanup as well.
The fire department took all of the second graders in Iron County through its Life Safety House (exhibiting great patience). For those not familiar with the Life Safety House, it is an asset to our community as it provides not only fire safety information but also numerous general safety tips as well. For more information on the Life Safety House, contact the fire department at (435) 586-2964.
The leisure services and events departments are planning a busy summer full of sporting events. Below is a partial list of the fun events that are planned:
—July 24: Main Street Mile (before the Pioneer Day parade on Main Street).
—Aug. 7: Tour of Utah Stage 1 start/finish.
—Aug. 18: Fire Road (start/finish at Main Street Park).
—Sept. 8: Cedar City Half Marathon (finish line at Bicentennial Soccer Complex, Cedar Canyon closed 6–10:30 a.m.).
—Sept. 14–16: Haute Route cycling event (Velo Village at Main Street Park).
—Nov. 2 and 3: Utah Cycling League, Utah State High School Mountain Biking Championships (Three Peaks).
This is an exciting time of year in our community. With the cold weather on the way out, we are able to really get Festival City in full swing. Over the past few weeks, there have been a number of events and celebrations. Some of these include the Lions Club annual “Kite Flight for Reading and Sight,” which encourages elementary students in Iron County to read at home; the annual Arbor Day Celebration; and the ribbon cutting for the new Friendship Garden at the North Elementary — just to name a few.
Memorial Day is also unbelievably just around the corner. 2018 is the centennial of the end of World War I, and Congress has designated May 25, 2018 as National Poppy Day in remembrance of those brave soldiers who died in the name of liberty, freedom, and democracy. The Iron County Veterans Coalition (American Legion, Marine Corps League, SUU Student Veterans of America, and Veterans of Foreign Wars) are planning a couple of events to recognize and honor this hundredth anniversary.
First, they will hold a special poppy distribution event May 19 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Wal-Mart, Smith’s, Lin’s, and CAL Ranch to distribute poppies to community members. We encourage all patriotic Americans to wear or display a red poppy on this day as a symbol of remembrance and hope.
The Iron County Veteran’s Coalition will also honor the eight men from Iron County who died serving their country during World War I at a service at the Cedar City Cemetery on Memorial Day, May 28, at 10 a.m. This will be an inspiring service featuring a drum-and-bagpipe band, a military salute, a flag raising, and a short talk. This event is free, and everyone is invited.
We would like to congratulate Kirby McDonald and Joshua Anderson from Cedar High School who won the 2018 Congressional App Challenge for Utah. The Congressional App Challenge is a competition aimed at encouraging U.S. students to learn how to code by creating their own computer applications. The challenge is intended to highlight the value of computer science and STEM education by giving students an opportunity to have their efforts recognized by their member of Congress. This competition is open to all students regardless of coding experience. Students of all skill levels are encouraged to participate and learn how to create their own apps.
These two bright young high school students created The Ammaron Portal, a project-management dashboard used for teams to communicate with each other while working on projects.
The Ammaron Portal has won the Congressional App Challenge for Utah, and now we have the opportunity to go to the House of Code located in Washington D.C. to present this app to people from all over the United States. The people who judged the winning app were so impressed with its quality and ingenuity that they themselves gave both Kirby and Joshua a $25 Amazon gift card (which was not planned with the award), and wrote a letter of congratulations. I was fortunate enough to join Congressman Chris Stewart as he recognized Kirby and Joshua for their outstanding work. Congratulations again on winning this major competition, Kirby and Joshua; you have made Cedar City and the State of Utah very proud!
Do you need to get rid of unwanted or outdated drugs? Did you miss the “National Prescription Drug Take Back Day” April 28? Well, we can offer a solution!
In 2011, the Cedar City Police Department saw the need for a safe way to get rid of old or unwanted drugs or pharmaceuticals. People have all kinds of medicines lying around, and sometimes they just throw them in the toilet or into the trash. The city’s sewage treatment plant discharges treated water into the groundwater basin, and since we have a closed basin, everything we put down the drains that doesn’t get taken out by the treatment plant stays in the basin. This includes all the drugs that are disposed of in such a manner.
If people don’t throw their unneeded drugs away, the drugs can accumulate around the house where children can find them and possibly put themselves at risk.
The police department’s unwanted drug box is in the lobby of the police department’s business office, located at 10 N. Main St., which is open Mondays through Fridays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can put your unwanted pharmaceuticals in the box and they will be safely disposed of. The box is secure and easy to use. Just put your materials in a plastic bag and drop them in the box. Please do not put loose pills in the box. Be sure not to put in glass, metal, syringes, or anything that is sharp. Do not dispose of unwanted chemicals in this box; call the fire department if you have something hazardous to get rid of.
The pharmaceutical disposal box is yours to use. Protect yourselves, your families, and the environment; it’s as easy as coming downtown.
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