Jasper City Manager Denise Kelley will retire effective Jan, 12th, 2024

KJAS
by Steve W Stewart
October 15, 2023

Jasper City Manager & Finance Director Denise Kelley has written a letter to the Mayor and City Council announcing her intention to retire, effective January 12th, 2024. The letter was shared with KJAS News by Mayor Anderson Land.

Kelley has been with the city for two decades.

Meanwhile, it’s expected that City Council will soon begin a search for a new city manager.

The following is the complete letter from Denise Kelley:

Honorable Mayor and Council Members

Please accept this letter as my official notice of retirement as City Manager and Director of Finance and Budget for the City of Jasper effective January 12, 2024.

January will mark my 20th Anniversary with the City of Jasper.

I have thoroughly enjoyed by tenure with the city and have loved working with the employees, past and present council members and former Mayors.

I leave to carry on a very capable team of professional, loyal, and hardworking individuals. I have no intentions of scaling back my activities. We have numerous projects in progress, and I intend to see them through until my last day and then some, if necessary.

The last twenty years have been challenging at times, but I want to think we have all learned and thrived through every event.

We have survived:

* Hurricane Rita 2005

* Hundred-year flood – 2006

* Five-hundred-year flood – 2006

* Hurricane Ike 2008

* Hurricane Harvey 2017

* Hurricane Laura 2020

* Five hundred -year flood 2020

* Ice Storm 2020

* Covid --- 2020 -2021

Our infrastructure is the best that it has even been, and we are constantly improving. Some of the major accomplishments are:

• Main Street Revitalization

• City Wide Street Projects

• Springhill Street Complete Rebuild

• Marvin Hancock Drive complete rebuild along with Bridge Replacement

• $ 11 Million Dollar Street Grant

• Flood Mitigation along Sandy Creek Banks

• Major city sewer line replacement from west side to the east side of town

• Generators on all city buildings, water wells and lift stations

• Expansion of Sandy Creek Park East – Arboretum Side

• Development of new park – Sandy Creek West

• Early repayment of bond debt – twelve (12) years early

• Group participant in bringing Provalus to Jasper

• Establishing a Fire Training Fields with ESD

• Splashpad

• Skateboard Park

• Upgraded Tennis Courts

• Established pickleball courts.

• Acquired land for nature trails- west of Marvin Hancock Drive

• Navigating and continuing operations through Covid 19

• Sandy Creek Park Pavilion

• Renovation and remodel of Woman’s Civic Club

• Christmas in the Park and city-wide decorating

The City of Jasper is in a great financial position. We owe no money for bonds, projects, equipment, or vehicles. We have money set aside in reserve to fund any disaster recoveries until we are able to be reimbursed from FEMA for a declared disaster. Without these funds we could possibly be without some utilities until FEMA came in and funded recovery efforts. I am very proud of the outstanding exemplary Financial Audits from 2003 to the present.

One of my more memorable accomplishments is the CHRISTMAS IN THE PARK festival. This was possible by our Councils seeing the potential of what it could do for our city and citizens. Our city staff along with others from outside the city helped and are still helping to make this festival happen. It has grown to be the most popular event that our city offers, bringing visitors from all around, including out-of-state visitors. It is the hard work, dedication, and loyalty of all workers, including those that do not work for the city that make this event so successful.

Thank you again for allowing me to be a part of “The Jewel of the Forest.”

Respectfully submitted,

Denise Kelley

City Manager

Director of Budget and Finance