Arimo community members address city issues to Bannock County Commissioners
Bannock County commissioners met with residents of the city of Arimo to review community issues on Friday. Community members gathered at Marsh Valley Joint District Office in Arimo to discuss several concerns, questions and desires the city has. Roads, a new recreation facility and loose domesticated animals were the three main topics of discussion.
Several roads in Arimo are unpaved and without sidewalks. The city recently paved one but no action toward paving additional paved streets is apparent.
City members also asked the commissioners to help build a new recreation facility that serves the Marsh Valley area. The city of Arimo is too small, however, to fund the maintenance of a community building. The commissioners suggested the city create a recreation district with neighboring cities to help fund the building.
Several people also voiced their concerns over loose animals roaming streets within the city specifically, dogs and goats that are aggressive and have attacked people in town. Luckily, no one has been seriously injured. City residents asked the Bannack County sheriff how they can mitigate this problem. The sheriff recommended code enforcement and regulations produced by the city.
The overarching theme of the meeting, however, was the community’s concern over the future of the city. One woman said the city used to be a “beautiful little town.”But in the past 10 years, she said, its beauty has faded.
The Bannock County commissioners presented several solutions to the city. “Any time you start talking about changing anything from the norm it’s hard and it’s difficult,” Bannock County commissioner, Terrel Tovey said. “Those are the issues people have to ask and that’s the answer they want. Do they want their kids to stay here and their grandkids to stay here and have jobs? If yes, they need to look at economic development.”
Ultimately, the city has to make its own legislation for its residences. The Arimo city residents were advised to vote for solutions to their problems. Rebuilding a city economically and contractually is no easy task. But the commissioners suggested there is potential for Arimo which has plenty of space for the commercial industry and is centrally located. Qualities the commissioners said were the city’s major assets. The question is whether the residents are willing to introduce new industry into their community.
The meeting left many questions unanswered but left room for discussion. While some members of the community were optimistic about the future of the city, others were not.
