First year review

The year 2020 was one for which to be prepared.

Through all the adversity, Portland Mayor John Boggs said he has few regrets.

“There’s not much I would do differently,” Boggs said.

His pride comes after a long 17 months. He had a stroke in August 2019 — he’s still dealing with the physical effects — won the general election the following November against incumbent Randy Geesaman and was in office for about three months before Portland had its first confirmed case of COVID-19.

A few more months passed until Boggs, who because of his age is considered to be more susceptible to serious illness or death from coronavirus, contracted and recovered from COVID-19.

“Everything I did had a backdrop of COVID in there,” said Boggs, who has had to navigate around virtual city meetings and periodically working from home while heading a city staff that has regularly been shorthanded because of the pandemic.

Time allowed for the following city accomplishments, among others:

•Seen by Boggs as his “smartest decision,” retaining all city department heads, though police chief Nathan Springer is set to retire later this week

•The Federal Aviation Administration funding phase one of Portland Municipal Airport’s multi-million dollar runway extension

•Getting the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to amend Portland’s long-term control plan for its wastewater treatment plant to allow more time to complete mandated projects

Complications abounded from COVID-19, obviously, but also from:

•The city’s coronavirus relief program, established by a Boggs executive order, falling short of his expected number of applicants

•Portland not coming to an agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers after a three-year planning period to combat downtown flooding

•Having yet to finalize the sale of the former site of the Sheller Globe south building because of the need for a variety of environmental studies and other issues

Boggs also worked with city council on amending the city’s traffic ordinances and board of works on entering new contracts with engineers on possible solutions for downtown flooding.

In collaborating with Jay County Development Corporation, Boggs has repeatedly focused on getting state and federal agencies to pay for local projects through grants. He pushed city council to put a stormwater tax in place with hopes of making the city eligible for up to $500,000 in grants from Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs.

Nothing, however, compares to the ongoing pandemic. Boggs said he’s walked a “real fine line” with choosing not to impose stricter restrictions to combat the spread of COVID-19.

“I just can’t bring myself to do it,” Boggs said, though he has considered imposing restrictions on businesses, which is allowed under Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb’s executive orders.

Despite the pandemic, several new businesses have opened or relocated to bigger sites in Portland, a sign of growth for any city. As in most other cities in the country, other Portland businesses have closed for good.

One complication Boggs has mentioned repeatedly is the lack of a public forum to communicate with the community. Before the pandemic, the city could have public information meetings. Those have been impossible most of the year, and it’s unclear whether he’ll even be able to give his state of the city address in the coming months.

Health-wise, Boggs still feels physically able to do whatever the city needs from him.

“I feel pretty good,” Boggs said, adding that he’s constantly adjusting to his “new normal” after suffering a stroke last year.