South Valley city continues to grow inside and outside of city hall
BY MARIA PREKEGES
An upheaval of staff in the city of Bellevue has created some new opportunities. Old friends, new faces, and a couple of in-house promotions have filled major vacancies in the city. The vacancies were created when Craig Ecckles, Dee Barton and Dan Black left.
Diane Shay replaced Ecckles as community development director. The city promoted Ruth Dey to the position of city clerk. Amanda Karst was hired as deputy clerk. The city also promoted Frank Suwanrit to the head of the public works department to replace Black. New hires in the public works department are Scott Beaver, Nick Schell and Andrew Leckrone.
Mayor Chris Koch is excited about the changes.
“They are all team players and work great together,” Koch said. “I feel they are a perfect fit for the city. Bellevue is lucky to have these seven new employees. We hope to accomplish lots of great things. They all have lots of fresh new ideas and love to share them with me and the council.”
Koch is also excited that they were able to promote within and hire Shay back to the team.
“With Frank and Ruth, it was easy. They are both very hard workers and have worked for the city for years. Amanda brings a ton of local experience and a wealth of accounting knowledge.”
There was a nationwide search for the community development director, but Koch said they found her in their own backyard,
“Diane had worked for the city before, and we brought her back to work in the town she loves and lives in. She brings years of experience to Bellevue.”
Bellevue’s planning and zoning administrator from 1996 to 2001, Shay was also the city planner in Hailey from 2001 to 2008, a principal planner for the city of Sun Valley from 2007 to 2012 and the code enforcement specialist for Blaine County from 2012 until this year.
“I worked for the city of Bellevue 20 years ago and it’s good to be back,” Shay said. “We have a really good team. We’re a really friendly, functioning staff and anything we can do to help out through any of the processes, we’re here to do that.”
Shay said that this is a very exciting time for Bellevue, with a lot going on, including a new hotel development, the Silver Creek Hotel. To be located at 721 N. Main St., developer Greg Anderson also owns a hotel in Salmon.
Koch said that the proposed 57-room hotel was designed to specifically appeal to sportspeople, with easy access and places to store gear.
“The hotel is going to be fabulous for the city,” Shay said. Anderson hopes to have a building permit early this fall and to have the hotel open by next summer.
The hotel comes at a good time, Shay said. “People have been telling me that with the new Campion Ice House in Hailey, there are people coming for tournaments in the winter and there isn’t a lot of lodging. There were several families going to Fairfield to get rooms last year, so this new hotel will help with that, as well as outdoor enthusiasts in the summer coming to town.”
Koch believes there is an “upbeat, positive vibe in town,” with more and more people becoming involved with different parts of the city. A group of volunteers has revamped O’Donnell field, in the upper east part of town, which is used for softball and baseball.
The library and its board offered a successful summer reading program, Koch said. “Just the other day we had our groundbreaking for the new 1,000-square-foot expansion to the library. This will double the size of our little library. Our goals are to make Bellevue an even better place to live. It’s such a great little town with so much potential. It’s a special place with residents who truly care about this little town. I am very proud to be the mayor of Bellevue.”