The purpose of local economic development is to have planned development and to be proactive in the growth of a municipality. This concept can often times be difficult to grasp, but it means our Economic Development Department, along with other municipal departments, private businesses, and not-for-profit enterprises focus on the…

Budget season is once again upon us.   Department heads, service organizations, and City commissions and committees are carefully putting together their requests for the upcoming fiscal year.  The budget process in Ellsworth takes approximately seven months to complete.  It is an arduous process that begins with requests from the Finance…

A city cannot grow responsibly without two things: a well-crafted plan for growth and development and a comprehensive set of rules to ensure that any new growth and development is done safely and in the best interests of the community. To ensure that growth is occurring responsibly, the City just…

Creating the budget for the City of Ellsworth is a seven-month process. In December, the Finance Director, on behalf of the City Manager, requests budgets from department heads, chairs of the various City commissions and committees, and any other organization that requests funding from the City. The months of January,…

Public safety is an important issue in any municipality. Employees who work in this field — be it police officers, firefighters or ambulance personnel — must be highly qualified, competent people with the ability to multi-task and stay calm in very difficult situations. There is another sector of public safety…

Previous “City Talk” articles have discussed the City’s economic development goals, including business attraction and retention plans, quality of place and incentive programs. But with all the projects currently going on in within the City limits, we recognize more information is needed to ensure that there is an understanding of…

The Ellsworth Police Department consists of 16 police officers providing coverage 24 hours a day, seven days per week in an area of more than 94 square miles.  Ellsworth has a year round population of 7,750 people however, because we are a service center, the number of people served actually…

Budget season is once again upon us. Department heads, service organizations and City commissions and committees are carefully putting together their requests for the upcoming fiscal year. The budget process in Ellsworth takes approximately seven months to complete. It is an arduous process that begins with requests from the Finance…

Winter has arrived just in time for the holiday season.  The weather has turned cold, snow has fallen, and the ground is finally beginning to freeze.  For winter recreation enthusiasts this is great news.  For the City, it means the Highway Department will be busy ensuring our roads remain passable…

A buzz phrase in the economic development arena is “quality of place”.   Quality of place pertains to items within a community that maintains or improves the quality of living for the citizens of the municipality.  It can range from infrastructure items such as the availability of public utilities, adequate roads,…