Troy Mayor Robin Oda has been a resident of the city since 1997. The former stay-at-home mom still seems a bit surprised by her move into public service, beginning with a seat on the city commission and then into the mayor's office where she's serving a second term.
On a tour of the downtown hub, it's clear Oda is a big fan of the city she serves and its amenities, but the job hasn't been without challenges. One started just after she took office.
This transcript has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Robin Oda: We had a tornado 10 days later, which hit downtown Troy. We had about 100 houses damaged, but nobody hurt.
"We're at the end of about a four-year project. It's been very comprehensive, very intensive, very disruptive, very uncomfortable for the residents, but we're right at the end of it."
Nine buildings in our downtown were damaged, and I think everybody in the region has heard about the old Tavern building, the IOOF building, and that has been settled. We've handled every challenge pretty well.
Jerry Kenney: There are the day-to-day typical challenges that every city faces, development, economics, housing. Can you describe the situation here in Troy?
Oda: Yeah, so one of the big in-your-face challenges right now is getting West Main Street done. We're at the end of about a four-year project. It's been very comprehensive, very intensive, very disruptive, very uncomfortable for the residents, but we're right at the end of it.
As soon as the asphalt plants open up, we should be able to get our final coating of asphalt down and finish it up, which is right on target. We're meeting the target, but it's been a long haul and people will be glad, well, I'll be glad to get that done.
Housing is always a discussion across the country. I don't like to use the word 'affordable housing' because that means something different to everyone, but we are building like crazy. People want to live here, people want to do business here, people want farmland to stay. My response to that is 'then you need to buy the farmland when it's for sale and farm it.' If it goes up for sale, somebody will buy it and chances are it's going to get developed and we really can't do anything about that.
We are short on land for industry, which is kind of causing a problem. People are concerned about growth. Troy is still a small city. We've had slow, steady growth. We're not jumping by 5,000 people every year or anything like that, so it's been very steady growth, and I very much believe if you're not growing, you're dying.
"The discussion around solar farms is an issue ... I'd rather have industry than a solar farm."
So I love that we're busy. I love that we are building homes. I love that industry is still trying to come here. It means we're a city where people want to be and I'm okay with that.
Kenney: If someone comes in, buys farmland and chooses to develop it, there's not much that can be done. So what are the conversations that are taking place among the city council? And to what extent are you making it possible that you can listen to residents' concerns?
Oda: It's a challenge, it really is. And I just went to our Miami County Farm Bureau annual meeting, I went to that a few weeks ago. So we're engaging with them on what selling their farmland feels like for them. Farming is a hard business and they're struggling too. And sometimes if it's not possible for them to keep their farmland, that hurts them.
What do we do? How do we grow? How we have companies that are looking for land? The discussion around solar farms is an issue. Not a fan. I'd rather have industry than a solar farm. So no answers yet. They're hard discussions.
Kenney: Historic preservation has been at the forefront of what Troy has been actively participating in over the years. Can you talk about the current situation and how you're striving to preserve the past, but again, move forward and grow as a city.
Oda: I think if you look around downtown Troy, you'll see that it's beautifully preserved and that building owners have done a really great job. We had a devastating fire at the Overfield Museum and that was devastating. That is the oldest building remaining. I think it was the first building in Troy as you came across the river. And it was a restaurant, it was boarding house, it was the courthouse, it everything. And ... that fire was devastating and they're working on seeing what they can recover and restore from that.
Kenney: Let's talk about any initiatives that you care to that the city has underway to further develop the economic climate for residents or the esthetics of the city.
Oda: We are finishing up West Main Street, which was 10 years in planning. Projects don't just happen, they're years in the planning. And right now we're getting ready to embark on downtown, which will be difficult, but it needs to be done. We have infrastructure for a lot of 100-plus-year-old buildings, and they need sewer and water work done, utility work done under the street.
While we're doing that, we're also going to be redoing our streetscape. We have crumbling sidewalks, bricks that have moved and are out of place, so that's going to be another comprehensive project to upgrade infrastructure and then refresh the way we look to the public.
Kenney: We're entering festival season for the summer. You've got strawberries that are in the ground.
Oda: Yes, Strawberry Festival is just around the corner. They've already had the Strawberry Festival Queen's pageant has already happened. The queen's been chosen. And so this work will not start until after the Strawberry Festival. We're putting in a new roundabout at the intersection of Adams Street and Riverside. That won't start until after the Strawberry Festival. The Strawberry festival kind of dictates projects that might get started.
