City needs to be ready for growth

Cody City Council President Andy Quick raised an important issue at the last city council meeting.

When the issue of adding land to the city came up, Quick said, “It seems like our city has had a long habit of annexing in parcels of land and then trying to come back and retroactively fix the infrastructure that we have in it later. I feel like this is the perfect opportunity to put that to a stop and actually do something about the things we need to fix before we add more land into the mix.”

The proposed addition to the city is at the end of Olive Glenn Drive and Links View Drive.

We aren’t offering an opinion on that particular proposed annexation.

However, in January the city will have a new mayor and a new city council and eventually a new city manager.

We are urging those officials and the planning and zoning board to consider all infrastructure needs on proposed projects before, not after, approving new annexations or subdivisions.

The ability to provide infrastructure to new areas is critical before making those decisions.

Public Works Director Phillip Bowman said the city is “realizing the limits of our raw water distribution system” and the city is taking a “very close look at the treated water pressure in the area to ensure that treated service is maintained at an acceptable level of service.”

Traffic flow, fire protection, availability of raw and treated water, sewer, electricity and all other utilities need to be assured before approving a new subdivision or annexing a new area into the city.

There is no question of the need for more housing in Cody. However, as the old adage says, “Haste makes waste.”

We urge the members of the Cody City Council and the planning and zoning board to do their homework and proceed with caution when before granting approval to a project.

It will take more time, but that’s preferable to dealing with the problems that will likely emerge at a later date.