He is looking forward to continuing to improve the city.Rob Muench, who has lived in Humboldt for 45 years, is seeking re-election in the October 24 Humboldt City Council election. "I have basically lived in Humboldt most of my life and I feel that has helped me stay in tune with the community and know some of the history," said Muench. Throughout his time in Humboldt, Muench has sat on several boards, including the Humboldt and District Chamber of Commerce (HDCC), the Humboldt Broncos, the Humboldt Co-op, the Humboldt and District Museum and Gallery and the Humboldt Soccer Association. He also was a JCI Humboldt member and is currently involved with Arts Humboldt. After serving two terms, Muench is still excited to be part of City Council and wants to continue some of the work Council has already started. "One of the reasons I would like to continue is to provide some continuity from the old council to the new council. I'd like to carry some of the ideas we have had forward," he said.He had the opportunity to be involved with projects like the renovation of the Uniplex, which has increased the functionality of the building, and planning for the future growth of the city with BHP Billiton. "We have put a lot of time and effort into that and I would like to see it going forward," said Muench. "We have been very progressive in trying to deal with the growth Humboldt has seen over the last few years."Because of the dramatic growth projected for the area in the next 10 years, he would like to continue to lobby the federal and provincial governments for funding. "We have a lot of projects that need to be funded," said Muench. "We want to make sure Humboldt's facilities keep up with the growth we expect." Muench also enjoyed working on the lot infill abatement program, which has helped keep older parts of the city vibrant."The bonus for doing that is we are replacing some older homes but the big key there is we aren't having to build new infrastructure to service those homes," he said. Another project he wants to see continue is the street paving program the current council has been working on during their last term. "Paving doesn't come cheap and it takes a lot of money to do what we are doing," said Muench. "This past year we spent over $600,000 on paving. We need to find creative ways, I think, to help with that." He explained that some of the energy-efficient upgrades that were made to the Uniplex may help free up some money to pay for infrastructure. Replacement of the aging sewer and water pipes also must continue. "We have a very high amount of water and sewer (infrastructure) that needs to be replaced before we can pave on top of those roads," said Muench. "We have to work on it to keep it moving forward." He would like to work on improving the truck route through Humboldt."That is one of the big reasons the intersection of Hwys. 5 and 20 is so congested is because of the amount of semi-trailers going through there," said Muench. "If we can re-route them efficiently through different routes it will help with traffic issues." Muench was pleased to serve his community and hopes to continue to do so. "The current council has worked very well together and we have to be planning for our continued growth," said Muench. "I would respectfully ask for the community's support to re-elect me so I can continue working on the plans we have laid out."
