A year ago, I was enjoying the honeymoon period after my election, but little did I know there would be a global pandemic less than three months into my administration. However, with the hard work of our team at Canton City Hall and a dedicated City Council, we not only responded to the unprecedented circumstances that defined 2020 but also managed to build great momentum for our future.
By the end of this month, we will have completed the design of our new wastewater treatment plant, with construction beginning in January 2021. It will be the largest infrastructure project in Canton's history. We also completed the east extension of the Etowah River trail past I-575, awarded a contract for the sewer line replacement and trail expansion west from Heritage to Boling Park by early 2022, adopted the lowest millage rate in Cherokee County as well as Canton since 1967, created both a Diversity Task Force and a Public Service Citizens Advisory Group, assisted our local businesses with the License to Recovery rebate, and continued to enjoy the opening of new restaurants, shops, and other exciting ventures throughout our city. Despite the chaos of the past year, the City of Canton has a lot to celebrate.Now, it's time to look ahead. This past January, we started a series of discussions to establish our goal of creating a new Citywide Roadmap to guide Canton's future. Even with distractions, we are on target to approve the Roadmap by the end of 2020. This document is the culmination of studies, plans, community feedback, social media comments, town hall meetings, master plans for major projects, and collective brainstorming. In October, the City Council gathered for a strategic planning session to review our work to date and refine our final direction by creating the key guiding principles that will inform Canton's growth through 2035 and beyond.Here are the seven tenets for Canton's future success:
Our Roadmap includes guideposts for each tenet with detailed goals and tactics to measure our success. While this strategy will not address every possible scenario, it is designed to get all stakeholders — citizens, elected officials, City staff, local businesses, potential investors, and developers — moving in the same direction. We can no longer afford to react to each potential development according to its individual merits. The Roadmap will help us to be proactive by informing the type, quality, and priority of growth in our city. In other words, developers will be asked to build to our plan, adhere to our tenets, and most importantly — respect the community our citizens want to create. I hope all of you enjoy a happy, healthy, and relaxing holiday season, but fasten your seatbelts for 2021 because Canton is burning rubber on its way to becoming the Coolest Small Town in America!
to your business!