Mayor discusses Ketchum’s coming year
By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer
After heart and kidney problems put him out
of action for the month of December, Ketchum Mayor Guy Coles said he is
looking forward to the coming year, the final year of his current
four-year term as mayor.
But he refused to say whether he’ll
choose to run for election again in November.
"I’m no spring chicken," he
acknowledged while dodging other questions about his plans for the coming
fall. "But my doctor and family say my health is improving rapidly. I’ve
enjoyed my tenure in office, working with a fine staff at city hall."
When discussing his accomplishments, he was
consistently careful to say "we" in recognition of the team
effort necessary to get things done at city hall.
"I use the phrase ‘we,’ because it
takes the whole group to accomplish something. We get a lot of input from
each [council] member that a lot of times will affect an outcome."
He said quality-of-life issues are among
the things he’s most proud of accomplishing as mayor, and
quality-of-life issues are what he plans to focus on in the last year of
his current term.
Coles’ goals for the coming year include:
completing design and going to bid on the city’s new wastewater
treatment buildings, finishing construction of the restrooms at the Forest
Service Park, beginning construction on the new Broadway Bridge, designing
and going to bid on the Warm Springs bike path from Saddle Road to East
Canyon Run, and completing the city’s pending comprehensive plan.
"If we can do all that, I’ll be very
happy, and I can’t see why we can’t," he said.
Coles has served the city for the past
eight years—two as a city councilman and six as mayor.
Among the things he’s most proud of in
his eight years at city hall, he said, are obtaining a senior discount for
garbage collection rates, adopting regulations that further limit the size
of downtown area commercial buildings, organizing the skate park at the
corner of Saddle and Warm Springs roads and organizing Atkinson Park
activities.
Over the past three years, the total amount
of commercial development in the city’s downtown has increased from
approximately 900,000 square feet to 1,200,000 square feet, Coles said.
In July 1998, a survey of Ketchum citizens
cited the city’s small-town atmosphere as its greatest asset. The recent
development spike threatened that atmosphere, Coles said.
He said the city’s new design review
ordinance, which will further limit the size and height of new commercial
buildings "will make all the difference in the world."
He also discussed the future of Blaine
County, which he has called home for several decades.
"I believe the main asset of Blaine
County is the rural character. The threat to Blaine County is the pressure
to change the Blaine County Comprehensive plan and its zoning ordinances
to permit more extensive development, which will degrade the county’s
rural character."
He added, however, that there may be
instances when development of rural areas in the county are appropriate,
"such as a provision for affordable or community housing," but
such efforts must be balanced with preservation of the county’s rural
character.
And though the means by which Ketchum and
Blaine County work toward affordable housing are sometimes disputed at
Ketchum City Hall, Coles said he is in favor of making all of the Wood
River Valley’s communities more affordable places to live.
He said he is excited about the city- and
county-funded housing director position, to be filled this month by Gates
Kellett, from Atlanta.
"I look forward to her performing her
new duties as Blaine County housing director. She has excellent skills in
financing affordable housing."
