The Coronavirus situation the last 72 hours has changed our lives drastically.  Many of our local, state, university, and professional athletes have had their seasons and championship runs suspended.  The City of Hillsboro and the region were looking forward to cheering on our Hillsboro/Central Valley Burros to another basketball championship.  I realize that it will be hard to make sense of everything that has happened the last couple of days, but our nations leadership is trying hard to prevent a catastrophic medical crisis.  There are some potential courses of action that are being taken, one of these is/was the postponement of in-person events that consist of 50 people or more throughout the U.S.  Another possible breakthrough is the use of purified blood plasma from recovered Coronavirus patients.  This technique goes back to successes experienced during the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 and a measles outbreak at a Pennsylvania boarding school in 1934.  The case reports from 1918 describe a 50% reduction in deaths among severely ill patients using this technique.  This method of treatment could be the first line of defense until a vaccine is created that will prevent Covid-19.  Until then, the best way to prevent the illness is to avoid being exposed to the virus which is mainly spread person-to-person.  Stay at least 6 feet away from people that are sneezing and coughing.  These may result in respiratory droplets that could potentially land in your mouth or nose and worse case make it into your lungs.  Wash your hands frequently and for at least 20 seconds to kill any germs.  Also, try not to touch your face and mouth which could spread the germs.  The City of Hillsboro is coordinating our Coronavirus response with Traill County and the State.  Unfortunately, we are thinking about complicating factors for potential flooding and group responses for sandbagging and the movement of victims for example.  We are hoping that the regions farmers aren’t impacted by potential transportation issues because of sickness or sick farmers and their help slowing down planting operations.  Finally, remember we are all in this together and stay safe, while helping wherever you can in the next couple of months.


Terry
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Discussing about the Riverwalk Addition

The City of Hillsboro has just been informed that we have been selected for an EV Charging Station Grant.  Last week the City Commission was informed by the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality that Hillsboro was a recipient of Volkswagen Settlement Funding.  We were one of many North Dakota applicants that requested funding.
As part of the Volkswagen Settlement, Hillsboro will receive a $108,775 grant to install a 62.5 kW level 3 DC electric vehicle (EV) fast charging station. The charging station will be located immediately off I-29, next to the substation at the intersection of County Road 11 and 6th Street NW. The planned level 3 fast charger is outfitted with multiple charging plugs.  This rapid charging system will be capable of charging an Electric Vehicle fully in approximately 30 to 45 minutes, depending on a vehicle’s battery capacity. Tesla electric vehicles can charge by utilizing their factory supplied converter plug. The project is expected to begin in the spring of 2020 and be fully operational by the early summer.
I think Hillsboro may be the first city to have a level 3 charger in the state of North Dakota.  In our application package, we had reached out to Manitoba to get the support of their EV/Hybrid vehicle owners.  They have over 5000 of these types of vehicles and were happy to support having charging options for their trips to North Dakota.  I look forward to drawing in more traffic off I-29 that will spend dollars in Hillsboro.  As a community we need to have discussions about how to optimize these chargers in order to highlight our Hillsboro Business Association (HBA) and their businesses.  As part of that conversation, there is an option for a business to provide a coupon for an amount of charging time if redeemed at the business.  The City of Hillsboro is looking forward to leveraging this cutting-edge technology for our visitors and citizens.  Our city continues to make history with another first for our region. 

Terry

​Merry Christmas to you and your family!  🎄🎄🎄
Christmas tends to be a time of reflection, recalling the blessings in life, recollecting who we are, and refocusing on what is important as we remember the reason for the season. I want you to know that all of you in the Hillsboro Community are important to me by receiving this Christmas message.  Good relationships add so much meaning to life.
Please embrace your family’s customs this Christmas Season. Share the feelings of warmth, happiness, contentedness, and comfort that arises from sharing simple pleasures with friends and family. Simple acts of support can definitely make winter a kinder and cozier season. Remember, there is no such thing as cold weather, only bad clothes, with an attitude like that winter will fly by.  
Please say a prayer to remember our young men and women in uniform - they are incredible. For those that are deployed and in harm’s way, it can be a difficult time of the year. The free world and our freedom depends on them, as there are many forces trying to deny freedom to others… even on our soil. Freedom matters. For those of you with small children, don’t forget to have them track Santa on NORAD’s web site; https://www.noradsanta.org/  When I was stationed at Cheyenne Mountain, monitoring Santa’s progress using NORAD systems was the highlight of our Christmas duties. 
Here is my annual Christmas Holiday closing: think deeply, speak gently, love much, laugh often, work hard, give freely, pray earnestly and be kind. All the best wishes for a joyous and Merry Christmas and a great 2020 filled with health, love, prosperity, and happiness! Hopefully, we all find more wisdom along the way. Let me close with one of my mentors Ten Commandments of Leadership that I think many in the Hillsboro Community practice.
The Ten Commandments of Leadership
1. People are illogical, unreasonable and self-centered.  Love them anyway.
2. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.  Do good anyway.
3. If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies.  Succeed anyway.
4. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.  Do good anyway.
5. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.  Be honest and frank anyway.
6. The biggest people with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest people with the smallest ideas.  Think big anyway.
7. People favor underdogs, but follow only top dogs.  Fight for underdogs anyway.
8. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.  Build anyway.
9. People who really need help may attack you if you do help them.  Help them anyway.
10. Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.  Give the world the best you have anyway.
 
 

​I hope everyone has gotten their Christmas Lights up before this weekend’s below average temperatures.  It looks like our highs will be back down around 0 degrees again.  It is really great driving around Hillsboro and seeing all the Christmas decorations, it really gets me in the spirit of the holidays.  I would like to remind everyone that there are free LED light bulbs for everyone to pick up at City Hall.  Take the opportunity to try these new bulbs and see how efficient and bright they are.  They also will demonstrate the savings on your utility bill.  Stay warm and safe this weekend!