WILMINGTON — A packed Wilmington City Council agenda saw the State of the City address, an officer’s heroism recognized, and dispelling of Rombach rumors.
State of the City
The state of the city is “pretty good” according to Mayor John Stanforth
Stanforth told those attending Thursday’s Wilmington City Council meeting that “despite many challenges faced in the second year of this pandemic, the City of Wilmington continues to make significant progress.”
The achievements include replacing “significant, aging infrastructure” and “navigating responsible new developments”.
“We remain steadfast in spending responsibly while continuing our focus on safety services, code enforcement, and road improvements,” he said, adding that their spending hadn’t surpassed the city’s revenue.
It didn’t matter where the revenue source came from, it was still the taxpayers’ contribution to the community, Stanforth stated, and he remained “responsibly shepherding” the city budget and the projects presented to him. He also gave credit to city council for its support,and to city employees for their hard work.
Hamilton’s heroism
Wilmington Police Officer Matthew Hamilton was recognized by Stanforth for his courageous actions in the line of duty.
Stanforth read aloud Hamilton’s report of an incident for the councilmembers and those attending.
On January 16, Hamilton had responded to TimberTech on Prairie Avenue on the report of an employee who cut his arm on a piece of machinery.
“The caller advised they had a makeshift tourniquet on the subject’s arm, but it was still bleeding,” the report said. “The only squad available was coming from Clarksville.”
Hamilton rushed to TimberTech and was directed to the man, who had “duct tape around his arm.” Hamilton applied his tourniquet on the subject’s arm close to the armpit.
Upon the squad’s arrival, Hamilton, along with Officer Elliot Sylvester, walked the subject out before he passed out. The subject was transported to Clinton Memorial Hospital .
Hamilton was praised by emergency services for his actions.
Rombach rumors
During his report, Safety/Service Director Brian Shidaker decided to dispel rumors that he had read and heard people saying about the Rombach Avenue project.
Shidaker advised the following:
• The project is not done, it’s only on pause due to the season. It will begin again in March.
• There are no medians being constructed; one pedestrian refuge island was constructed on Rombach in front of Dairy Queen. It is not a median.
• Left turnouts at “unsignalized locations“ will be restricted. This is due to safety concerns since they can cause severe-injury crashes.
