A retirement party was held on Saturday, November 17 for retiring fire chief Bruce Parton. Parton served as St. James Fire Chief for 20 years and will retire at the end of December. Area fire fighters came to the fire station to celebrate his long career of serving others in the community.
The St. James City Council awarded Pierce Asphalt, LLC., a contract, as the best, lowest bidder on a project that will pave parts of the hiking/biking trail as well as the parking lot near the entrance to the mountain biking trail. The council also heard about a second grant to reimburse the city for their investment near Prock Operations.
If you noticed a new look to the bleachers and dugouts at the softball fields, you can thank Randy Bonham! He is pictured here putting the third and final coat on the girls dugout. The city supplied the paint and Randy donated approximately 70 hours to paint both the girls and boys dugouts and 10 bleachers. He also painted three bleachers at the football field with the remaining paint!
The St. James utility board met in joint session with the St. James city council to discuss ongoing projects the municipal utilities have underway. Each year, the board and council meet every six months, to look at costs and infrastructure to determine if any adjustments need to be made. The board presented information on updates to the city water system and what can be expected in the future.
After several years of negotiating, the St. James City Council chose to keep ownership of a piece of property located near city hall. Corky Stack, of Stack and Associates, who owns office space next door, has been negotiating with the city for several years, attempting to purchase a small portion of property that would allow him to expand his offices and control his driveway.