Community skips State of the Community

Mick McGuire could not contain his disappointment as he opened the second annual Montgomery State of the Community event.

“We don’t have a single person from the community here,” McGuire began. “Everyone here is here because they are presenting. Over 3,000 people had an opportunity to come and there isn’t a single one.”

Still, the presenters shared their information with one another at the event, which was held Saturday morning, Feb. 22. The event was put on by the Montgomery Community Foundation.

Reports were shared by City of Montgomery, Tri-City United, Arts & Heritage Center of Montgomery and Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce.

City of Montgomery

Montgomery Mayor Tom Eisert gave a report on the city’s status, projects and challenges.

He reported that the city is currently fully staffed. The city has bought a new ambulance and a pumper truck for the fire department.

“The big question is always, where are these dollars coming from,” Eisert said of the vehicle purchases. “The ambulance is being funded through its service.”

Eisert said the pumper was purchased through fundraising efforts by the Montgomery Fire Department. “This isn’t always dollars that come directly out of taxpayers’ pockets. It’s a lot of collaborative fundraising efforts that make these things happen.”

Updates were given on the street projects, police department, parks and public works. He noted the city has begun building a long-term plan for upgrading the wastewater facility.

For challenges, Eisert noted housing of all types has hindered community growth. He said the EDA has been working on the problem for six months.

“The city is looking at its current and future debt obligations when it comes to street projects,” Eisert framed as the main takeaway of his report. “What we’d like to do is talk to the community and see how some of these projects are affecting them. How they could affect them, and how it will affect them in the future.”

As a result, the Montgomery City Council has decided to hold three town hall meetings on March 5 at 6 p.m., March 22 at 9 a.m., March 27 at 1 p.m.

“We went all over the board to make sure that there is some sort of availability there for somebody that has some interest,” Eisert said.

Tri-City United

TCU Superintendent Kevin Babcock gave an overview of the happenings in the school district. He reported that student enrollment has improved and is up 25 students from the previous year.

Babcock introduced a new mission statement with the slogan, “The TCU community will ensure all means all."

“We’re going to continue to focus on community as we continue to grow within our means,” Babcock said. “Our students are in a pretty good space, and we continue to grow at TCU.”

Babcock talked about streamlining teaching through the READ Act, improving middle school programming, the E-hallway pass system, and the budget structure for the school system.

He noted that since the 2012 merger, the school system still holds the bonds from Montgomery, Lonsdale and Le Center.

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“At this point, we still have three school districts in one even though we are TCU,” Babcock said. “All those bonds from the previous school districts fully drop off in 2036-2037.”

Challenges include maintaining the buildings, including buildings being underutilized in Le Center.

When asked about the possibility of the U.S. Department of Education being eliminated, Babcock said he wasn’t worried about the department being eliminated, as the schools are governed more by the state department of education.

“What they can’t get rid of is the funding,” Babcock added. “We need the federal funding more now than ever before.”

Arts & Heritage

Kathy Peterson and Maureen Gunderson gave a report on the Arts & Heritage Center of Montgomery. They, along with Sue Hayes, have been part of the organization since its start more than 30 years ago.

“We’re always looking for new people and for young people to get involved because we’re all 30 years older,” Gunderson said.

Gunderson described the history of the Arts & Heritage Center, the current projects, and highlighted the membership and funding challenges.

The upcoming exhibits will be from the student art shows.

“Starting Thursday, we will have elementary, then we have middle school, then high schools takes us to the middle of May,” Gunderson said. “Then we have a quilt exhibit, and our Kolacky Days exhibit thanks to Duane Jindra. What would Montgomery do without his collection?”

Chamber of Commerce

Liz Krocak gave a brief report for the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce in place of Executive Director Caitlin Huiras.

The chamber now has 74 members with 10 new members joining in 2024.

Krocak talked about Montgomery Museum in the Streets, a program the chamber hopes to launch this summer. The program is a walking tour of Montgomery, which will feature the buildings of the historic district. The program will feature an app, website and printed materials. Audio recordings and QR-coded signage will also be utilized for the program.