Hello to all,

The city council and staff join me in wishing all of you Season’s Greetings.  We hope you find joy and happiness as you celebrate this festive time of year.  Please do so safely and responsibly.

As the year is quickly coming to a close, I would like to report a few of the happenings in Mendon in 2011.  Our year began with an extremely wet winter and spring.  I know that this did not help our farmers and gardens.  But it certainly helped our water supply.  Because of this and everyone being water wise, we were able to avoid any water restrictions throughout the summer.  We appreciate your efforts.  Our May Day and July 24^th celebrations went off without any hitches.  Wonderful weather and competent organizers made for a good time for all.  Our children’s sports activities and the softball leagues and tournaments were all extremely successful.  The parks and Mendon Station were constantly hopping with family reunions and other activities.  Our trails committee, led by Darren Child, Bruce Anderson, and Councilman Jason Wooden, has completed another section of the 100 East side walk.  This is a much needed and welcome addition to our town and has made walking and riding to school safer for our children.   As usual, Mendon has been the source of a lot of enjoyment for many people.  We thank you for making it such a friendly town.

Many have been asking how our water situation is.  So here is another update.  As reported earlier, our Deep Canyon well site did not produce as we had hoped.  So in the last couple of months we have drilled two test holes.  The first hole is just south and west of the cemetery.  After drilling 400 feet, we found very little water and many of the same characteristics of the Deep Canyon well.  So we quickly shifted gears and began drilling at the second site which is by our small pump house at the bottom of the Cobblestone Road.  We have drilled 400 feet at this site and are cautiously optimistic with our findings.  We have hit three promising layers of water which we feel can produce a fairly significant amount of water for our system.  However, there is still quality testing, pressure testing, and clearance from the state to allow us to drill a working well and hook into the system.  So there are still hurdles to jump.  As I have told some folks, we have found water.  But it doesn’t mean we “have” it yet.  However, everything looks very promising and we truly believe we have found a water source.

At the beginning of next year, two of our City Council members will be leaving us.  I truly appreciate the efforts of Mike Carlson and Jason Wooden.  This town is better because of their service.  We welcome aboard our new City Council members, Shawn Osborne and Greg Taylor.  They bring unique talents to the table that we will certainly put to work and we look forward to associating with them.

We have conceptual plans for our future city administration/library building.  You can find them on our website at www.mendoncity.org.  We are excited to make this happen.  It will take some time to put away and raise the funds needed.  But it is needed and will be well worth the wait.

Thanks for all you do.  I appreciate my association with you.  I have an open door policy and am very approachable.  Please feel free to contact me with any suggestions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Ed Buist, Mayor

Greetings fellow Mendon residents,

Summertime is upon us with all of its happenings.   What a great time of year to live in Mendon.  Ball games and activities and celebrations keep us all hopping.  Please be safe and courteous to others.  We need you!

I wanted to update you on a few things.

First, I will address the water situation.  We were extremely blessed with an extra wet winter and spring.  This has allowed our springs to “recharge” and we currently have a really good supply.  We are in hopes of not having any water restrictions this summer.  That, of course, will depend on how conservative we are and how hot and dry it gets.  Please be water smart.  If you have secondary water, please use that for all of your outdoor watering purposes.  If you don’t (like me), please be mindful of our situation and water accordingly.

Our well that was drilled on the upper reservoir site did not turn out as we had hoped.  We had to drill at a deeper level as to not disturb the spring levels.  We did hit some water, but it was very difficult to yield because of the geology.  A quality test was performed on the water that was yielded.  The test came back indicating that the water was high in arsenic, above acceptable state levels.  It was determined by our engineering firm that the cost of cleaning the water would not be worth the yield.  Therefore, the decision has been made to walk away from this site.

A new site has been chosen and looks very promising.  We are in the process of obtaining property just south and west of the cemetery that has an existing well with promising water yield.  The quality of the water has been tested and the results were positive.  When the lawyers and surveyors work is completed, a test hole will be drilled to confirm existence of water in that spot.  Once confirmed, we will commence with the drilling and hope for acquisition of some good water.  The situation stands at this point.

One thing I do want to share with you.  We live in a small community.  People talk.  It is a free country.  But there are a few stories that have gotten back to me which simply are not true concerning our water situation.  So I will give you my opinion and leave it at that.  The sites for drilling have not been randomly chosen by people who are not qualified.  In approximately 2004, a study was performed by an engineering firm and a highly regarded geologist in cooperation with our mayor and city council to find the 10 best possible well sites in our area.  The decisions made by our previous mayor and council as well as myself and the current council have been made based on these studies.  I wholeheartedly support these decisions.  We do not take it lightly.  There have been many sleepless nights and much worrying by good men over these decisions.  Everyone would have looked brilliant had we hit a quality “gusher” of a well the first go around.  But it did not turn out that way.  Drilling is not an exact science.  So I would ask that you keep these things in mind.  It is really easy to be critical of others in situations like this.  But please know that everything is being done with the best interests of the community and its residents in mind.

The other thing I would like to address and make you aware of is our preparation to build a city administration/library building.  After a public meeting in June 2011 and a positive response by residents, we have begun the process for this building.  This is a much needed project.  A committee is being formed to get plans in place.  This will take some time as funds still need to be raised.  But I truly feel this will happen within the next five years.  If you want to be involved in this project, please contact myself or any city council member.

Special thanks to our trails committee.  Construction is about to begin on our next phase of the 1^st East sidewalk.  This will keep our children safer.  We appreciate your hard work!

The city council and staff joins me in wishing all of you a happy and safe summer.