FROM THE MAYOR: CITY BEGINS YEARLY SEALING PROGRAM

The city of Jackson has just awarded a contract for concrete street joint sealing maintenance. Joint sealing is needed to increase the life of our city's concrete streets.

Over time every concrete street develops some cracks. When concrete cracks, the joints need to be sealed to prevent water from getting to the subgrade of the street. Water is not friendly to the street subgrade. The moisture makes the soil soft, and ultimately causes street failure after continuous traffic travels these locations.

This is why the city is starting a yearly sealing program. After a few years and working through our yearly budgets all concrete streets will be sealed. Joint sealing material is useful in a concrete street cracks or street joints for about five to 10 years. Through this program we hope to increase the life of many of our city streets. We believe this will be a cost effective program that will save the city money in street replacements over the long haul.

Our beautiful Jackson Park system is a year round active place for children, adults and senior citizens to enjoy. Four locations (city, Brookside, Litz and soccer) of parks offer something for everyone to enjoy. Sports leagues, walking trails, Rotary lake fishing, veterans' memorial, municipal band concerts, the city swimming pool, tennis courts, and picnic pavilions and Safety City are just some of things our parks have to offer.

On Oct. 29 we dedicated a new pavilion located in Brookside Park. Soon our main city park will once again be the location for the "Lights of the season" Holiday display. If you are interested in placing a Holiday display in our city park the deadline is Nov. 20 to reserve your spot. Contact Parks and Recreation Director Shane Anderson at City Hall to reserve your spot as soon as possible. The "Lights of the Season" will be turned on the first weekend in December. Lets make this year's display the biggest and best ever!

Our efforts to provide the citizens of Jackson better infrastructure (water, sewer and electric) are moving forward through many ongoing projects. The most noticeable at this time are the major electric improvements being made at our West sub-station and the expansion of our city waste water plant.

Many more projects are in the works and we will keep you up to date on future progress. The council, staff, and I are committed to the continued expansion of our city's infrastructure to better serve our existing citizens and to provide for the orderly continued growth of our city.

The city of Jackson Planning and Zoning Commission recently sent a proposed storm water control/detention ordinance to the City Council for our review and action. The council will hold a public hearing Nov. 20 on this matter. Storm water control and detention has long been discussed in Jackson. With the growth of our community some type of storm water control is very important.

Come and express your views as we discuss what type of storm water ordnance is best for Jackson.

The council meets every Monday at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall in Jackson. Your ideas and suggestions on how we can make Jackson a better place are always welcome.