Progress in Kodiak

In any town there is always some excitement when a new business 

opens or there is a change in the way the city operates. That is especially

evident in the town of Kodiak. Although we boast a population of almost 

10,000, if you count the outlying areas, we are quite supportive of new

businsses. This was particulaly obvious when we had a new eating

establishment open. The turnout on opening day was phenomenal! Even

the owner commented that other openings had not had near this 

enthusiasm. With the grand opening there were cars filling the parking lot

and people in line to order. Yes, Taco Bell had come to Kodiak and

people were excited. In fact, the demand was so great that the wait in

line was up to 2 hours. And someone else reported that they waited 3

hours in the drive-thru lane. The last time I drove past, on Friday evening,

most booths were full inside and there were 7 cars waiting in the drive-

through lane. Where in the lower 48 can you see this much support for

the local economy? Maybe it was the combination with Kentucky Fried 

Chicken that brought the people. We really don't know, but everyone 

agrees thatwe are seeing progress in the town.

This opening does not come close to one a few years earlier. This 

store brought so much community support that their grand opening at 

midnight found cars filling the parking area, people standing in long 

lines at the door, and cars lining the street for over one mile with 

people anxious to see what the store had to offer Kodiak. This support

was for our own mini-Walmart. It's not nearly as large as most, but 

can you imagine if we ever got a Super Walmart what would happen?

New eating establishments aren't the only progress here.  The city

just completed some road rennoavations. This prior intersection had a

flashing red and yellow light. With the completions we now have

our first traffic signal that changes from red to green. Wow! We also 

have a police car nearby to remind citizens that the lights is different 

from the prior one. Now, we have to remember that a few years ago the

city tried to make this change. There were 4 car accidents in one

morning. By the afternoon they were back to the blinking light. We will

have to wait and see what happens this time. The only other intersection

that comes close is the 3-way stop sign near one of the elementary

schools (we have 4).

As the city continues to plan for the future we hope to see more

progress occurring. But as things go now, we wil just have to wait and 

see. If you would like to see a few recent photos of our city, here is a 

gallery of photos:

http://gallery.me.com/criokodiak#100294