Hello again from Mayor Kim Johnson.

As some of you may remember or know, I work as a Speech-Language Pathologist for Prairie Lakes AEA.  We went back to work on Wednesday of last week for our 2024-2025 contract.  For me it was a day filled with mixed emotions as this was my ‘last’- ‘first day back’ to work since I will be retiring at the end of May.  I’m sure I will try to work part-time somewhere but hopefully my days of full-time work will be behind this ‘ole’ gal!

So, we had a water boil advisory which has now ended but a few people approached me sharing that they had not been notified.  I have checked on this and you can be assured that our city administrator accessed every possible communication avenue available.  This notice was published on 3 radio stations, our local TV station, on our city website home page, on the electric sign, on Facebook and an email was generated from Front Desk if you have signed up for this.  I personally missed all of these because of ‘bad’ timing’ on my part and I had yet to sign up for Front Desk.  What is Front Desk, you ask?  Well, when signed up, it will provide emergency correspondence and public notices.  Go to our city’s website (westbendiowa.com).  There is a square on the left side of the home page (online bill pay) and at the bottom of this square is a red button that says ‘Front Desk’.  You DO NOT have to have online bill pay to sign up for Front Desk.  However, as many businesses as doing these days, online bill pay is highly recommended for a variety of reasons.  If you would like help setting up your Front Desk access, please stop into city hall and we can help you get this process completed.

Last week I also learned about building permits.  Did you know that in the town of West Bend you need a building permit for basically anything you might do on the outside on your property? Of course, not planting flowers in my cow trough, but I had some cement work done this past week and I thought of my project as just replacing existing smaller cement areas.  WELL-  I needed a building permit for this.  Please call or stop into city hall if you have any questions.  It’s better to error on the side of caution by asking what you might need to do.  You can also obtain this permit on line by going to our website and clicking on ‘Departments’-‘Planning & Zoning’-scroll down to red button ‘download building/zoning permit application’.  It would have been so embarrassing for the mayor to be in violation of the building code!

My heart was so happy when I had 2 neighborhood girls stop by and ask if they could sell lemonade in front of my house.  Of course I said ‘yes’ but I cautioned them that it was a pretty chilly day and not sure if that was the best day to choose.  It was a good thing they didn’t listen to me because these 2 girls made some really great money while serving several families their delicious lemonade.  I also heard there was another lemonade stand with cinnamon rolls!  It’s heartwarming to know our community and our Grotto visitors support the delightful efforts of our young people.

I want to continue to share my concern about various practices in our community in the hopes that we continue to ensure  we have a safe environment for everyone.  This month I want to highlight bicyclists.  There are many who bike on our main street sidewalks.  Although this seems safer than biking in the street with all the cars pulling in and out of parking spots, please know to stop at each intersection, look both ways and abide by the ‘rules of the road’ such as stop signs.  Also, there are business doors that open onto the sidewalk and a few bikers may have just missed getting ‘hit’.   You could also walk your bike down main street then hop back on a few blocks down and resume your ride.  Parents, please have another conversation with your child about bicycle safety around town.

As always, if there is anything you would like me to be doing as your mayor, please reach out.  Be assured that there is no cost for this column.  We are very fortunate to still have an actual newspaper that serves our community.  Feel free to contact me at any time at my email (kjkimtalk2@gmail.com) or you can reach me by phone at 320-241-4770.