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• Kevin Nehls: No, I think that taxes are too high, but I will not say that we can lower taxes. What I can say is we will look into doing what we can to stop increasing taxes. When I was growing up in Groton, playing baseball and going to the swimming pool were the two best things to do in the summer. I am glad my kids have the same opportunity that I did. The issue was a new pool was built without planning for proper funds and now we have to pay it back. That means taxes are going up. I think if we can balance what we are spending, we could pay the pool off early and get it behind us and start looking in the future and not in the past.
• The city utilities have been slowly increasing over the years. WAPA has essentially doubled its rate due to the drought. Heartland has increased the city cost. The wheeling charge from Northwestern Energy has increased. Even with the increases, the city electric rates have helped to pay for costs such as recreation and street repairs along with the necessary upgrade to the city electric grid. What are your thoughts on the utility rates and explain your answer. I am like everyone else. I hate opening my city bill when it comes in the mail. Our rates are set and all we can do is

try to meet with our suppliers and keep costs down as much as possible. If we can stop wasteful spending, we can relieve some of the burden that our electric rates are paying for. One of those activities is our baseball program. I want to try and have a fundraiser to help with the cost of our complex. Groton has always been a huge supporter of the baseball program and I think it will get a lot of support from our community.
• The streets have been a major concern to residents in the past. The city has begun a major project in repairing the streets, such as the ones around the school that were completed last year. What is your opinion of the street redevelopment project?
• Kevin Nehls: I think they have a done a great job with the streets around the school. The plans for the project this summer looks great, too. I think if we would have waited on the pool until we had the proper funding, we could have had a lot more streets done instead of paying interest on the pool.
• Roy Olson: We have a great start. We will continue to do street improvements each year with what our budget will allow us. Our improvements include digging out the street, installing drain tile, fabric, base coarse, asphalt mat and curb and gutter.

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