From the Village President – 8-14-2013

There has never been a time like now for the Village of Colfax. Over the years, it seems we as a community have been stagnant. It’s not because we don’t want to grow. Maybe it’s because our ability to think creatively was lost.

For years, a lot of us have been told that Colfax wants to be just a retirement community. I find this hard to believe. There are plenty of opportunities where the Village can adequately provide for our elderly and at the same time create opportunities for the younger people to reside in Colfax as well.

 Why now? Over the last couple years or so, the Village has made tremendous improvements on our processes and ways of doing things. We hired an accounting firm that is able to help us monitor interest rates and recommend creative ways to finance and re-finance bonds. We implemented a new accounting software program to track expenses more efficiently. Our clerk has taken on some amazing responsibilities of bringing structure to the Village policies and created more accountability from our department heads. The Village Trustees are thinking more open-minded and are being more cognizant of budget practices for our Village infrastructure and future projects. And our Village businesses are expanding at an amazing scale of four businesses all expanding within the same year. [Colfax Health and Rehabilitation Center; Cedar Country Cooperative; Timber Technologies; Anderson Bridges.]

We continue to keep a look out for land acquisitions and expansion opportunities that help position our community well into the future. We all know that services and construction costs will never go down, so to support our cost structure, it is imperative that we look to create additional tax bases so we don’t burden our current businesses and residents. I can’t say that the Village board can create these opportunities by ourselves, so I would ask from everyone around us for your faith, support, and creative thinking.

Scott Gunnufson
President, Village of Colfax