Weekly Update

Posted by Laura Jennings 
on Jul 24, 2015
 
This week we heard from new mayor Paul Esser.  Mayor Esser gave an overview of his ongoing effort to meet with all city employees and department heads. Sun Prairie has doubled in population and has had much more business development since he was mayor in 1987. He outline his three initiative for his term as mayor:
 
1. Create more diversity within the city government.  33% of children in the SP school district are of color, however, the majority of city council, city employees and the mayor are not diverse.  
2. Explore how to improve public transportation such as park and ride, walking and bike trails and transportation options.
3. Develop a comprehensive plan for the city to address future economic development that includes future land use and transportation.  The last city plan was in 2009.
 
He is also pro actively seeking input from the city council to develop next year's budget and reported that the fire department is actively seeking a fulltime paid fire chief (past chiefs have been part time and volunteers). Additionally, he reported that Menards is still in discussion to build in the Prairie Lakes subdivision and that SP Utilities continues to plan for fiber optic cable with the next area to be in consideration is the Smith Crossing neighborhood.
 
Other Rotary news:
  • We also heard from Steve Bertleson, the outgoing exchange student, who will be traveling to Germany for a year.  We look forward to hearing more about his experience when he returns.
  • Jeanne Behrend is asking for volunteers to help with the Patrick Marsh building of a viewing platform.  Patrick Marsh received the SP Rotary community grant of $5000 which was then approved for a match from Rotary District 6250 for another $5000.  A contingency of the grant is that Rotarians are involved in the project.  Please contact Jeanne if you would like to help.  
  • Rich Darga thanked everyone who helped at the Relay for Life last Friday. The grilled cheese sandwiches made on the Blaser turned out great!  The American Cancer Society raised over $50K from the event.
  • Remember to notify Todd at Colonial Club if your speaker needs audiovisual support, 608-837-4611 or tschultz@colonialclub.org
  • Finally, a message from President Rose "If you were at the meeting on Tuesday, you know I made a plea for golfers for the outing. We also need items for the silent auction and the raffle. These are also a big part of the fundraising for the event. We need the help of of the club to make this work, please consider bringing in more items for the raffle or silent action.  You can drop them off at Rose's office- 1777 W. Main Suite 201 or with Laura Jennings at the Colonial Club. Thanks so much for making the 2015 Rotary Golf Outing a success! "
 
See you Tuesday!