This evening the community will get its first look at the Annual Report to the Board and the Community for fiscal year 2012, which runs from May 2011 through April 2012.
“Overall, it’s the Village’s chance to highlight accomplishments to the residents over the past year,” said Assistant Village Administrator Jamie Belongia. “Generally speaking, the Village has a lot to be proud of. We maintain a solid financial position, continue to offer the same high-quality level of services and have made substantial progress in improving communications to residents.”
Highlights of the past year include:
• Creation of a new Village website that features online bill pay, a citizen request module, over 300 pages of new content and increased government transparency.
• Implementation of a new solid waste and recycling contract offering covered recycling carts to all Village residents.
• Expansion of several Village events, including the Tree Lighting event, to offer more opportunities for businesses to participate.
• Launch of a three-pronged outreach initiative to strengthen relationships between the Village and local businesses.
During fiscal 2012, the Village received the Governor’s Hometown Award for work on Settler’s Cottage, its ninth consecutive award for Excellence in Financial Reporting and an Excellence in Landscape Awards for naturalized stormwater detention basin plantings. It also was an honor to have Montgomery’s basins and stormwater guidelines featured in an article in the April 2012 issue of Municipal Water & Sewer magazine.
In February, the Village Board gave final approval for a plan to expand the Stuart Sports Complex, paving the way for four new ball fields with lights and eleven new soccer fields to be built on the north side of Route 30 west of Orchard Road. The park will also include a permanent restroom and concession structure, parking and drop-off lots, asphalt paths and a 15-acre dog park.
Also during the past year, rehabilitation of the Lime Softening Water Treatment Facility on Knell Road was substantially completed. This project represents a commitment by the Village of Montgomery elected officials and staff to provide high quality, softened, treated water that meets all of the EPAs standards for drinking water to its businesses and residents.
One major focus this year has been to improve communication with the public. New technology available through the Village’s new website allows for 24/7 bill pay and submittal of service requests. In July 2011, the Police Department launched Nixle, a resource tool that allows the Police to send text messages to advise the community of special circumstances and traffic related incidents. The Village’s Facebook usage increased dramatically and this has proven to be a useful way to provide breaking news and other important information to the public. In addition, this year the Village drastically updated its budget document, including more information, graphs, charts and user-friendly language. This budget document will, for the first time, be submitted for the GFOA Budget Award.
An interactive version of the Annual Report is available online.