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Nielsen leaving as mayor of Nibley By
Julie Sulunga NIBLEY -- Walking into a city council meeting is a calming event with Mayor H. Jay Nielsen at the head of everything. Nielsen has been the mayor of Nibley for the past eight years. He has been responsible for the construction of new city offices and a handful of new roads. He had the water line on the highway put in during the Highway 165 reconstruction. He has installed several hundred feet of new water pipes, upgrading the water system. He had sidewalks put on 800 West creating a safer walking place for children attending the new school on 2600 South. He constructed a new park called the Ellen Markin Elkhorn Park. He has also taken on the sewer problem by having one built looking ahead to Nibley's incredible growth. He has also approved a back-up well to be built which will be named after him. "Mayor Nielsen has done more than any mayor has," said Nibley City treasurer and clerk Pat Blau. The Utah League of Cities and Towns named him Mayor of the Year, she added. One of hardships of being a mayor has been to deal with the 75 percent growth that Nibley has experienced. "I have had the problem of managing the growth," Nielsen said. "The mayor has not always been popular with the people because he has done so much," said Councilman Scott Wells. "I think he has been a mayor who has had the foresight to see things because he has looked ahead to what we may need in the future. I have always respected him because he has a been a hands-on mayor. If a water pipe would break, the mayor would sometimes be the first one out there digging." Nielsen is a farmer by trade. In addition to farming he also had to have a sense for business. He knew when to be tight with money and when to spend it for the long-term interest of Nibley, Wells said. "I think we are not going to have a mayor like Nielsen for a long time," he said. Nielsen is also good at talking to the people. If anything were unclear he would always be the first one to explain things, often going to the person's home. "I think one the biggest lessons I learned was not having an ill feeling toward someone if they upset me," Nielsen said. "I couldn't hold a grudge against someone if they didn't like the way I did things." The mayor has also had the opportunity to work with an excellent council, he said. Together they have been able to accomplish a lot in the past four years.
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