Council Message: Reflecting on My First Year in Office

City Council Swearing-InBy Councilman Claude Wells

As we closed out the year 2020, I am reflecting on my first year of service to our citizens of Riverton City as a councilmember. It has been a pleasure and an honor to serve our citizens in our great city!

My first year was filled with formal training for (FEMA) Federal Emergency Management Agency covering emergency management and preparedness in case of a major emergency. Other training included legislative training, budget review and time spent with department directors to discuss their needs and learn what each department does to support our city. All councilmembers serve on additional boards to represent our city’s interests like the Riverton Law Enforcement Service Area, United Fire Authority, Riverton’s Redevelopment Agency, the South Valley Chamber of Commerce, and many more.

I had numerous opportunities to see how roads are built, rode in snowplows, toured fire stations and visited 16 water pump houses, all to learn how the city runs. The learning is ongoing and time consuming, but I believe the more you know the better decisions you make as a representative of our city.

Councilmembers start off our year in January putting together our strategic priorities for the next year and reviewing how we did on the previous year’s goals for the city.

This is mainly reviewing the budget to make adjustments to our projections against actual collections for sales revenue, impact fees, and other revenue sources needed. We review costs for culinary, secondary water, sewer, sanitation, recycling, and other services. We look at road projects, park projects, city events, and the resources we need to maintain our infrastructure while balancing the budget.

Two of the best resources to keep up with city business, meetings, events, contests and other resources is the Riverton Connect app or the Riverton City website at rivertonutah.gov. Here you can report a problem in your neighborhood, check city ordinances or even check out the business directory by business type to find a business for a service you need.

2020 was a very challenging year for our city and our residents. We had to make a lot of adjustments to how we do business, conduct meetings, work, shop, and keep ourselves safe in a worldwide pandemic. Riverton residents are resilient. We will continue to move forward safely and productively through 2021.

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