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FAIRMONT-- A third Fairmont City Council work session for this week that took place on Thursday evening focused on city initiatives and future planning. While much was talked about, extra time was spent talking about issues with blight, a park plan and a needs analysis for facilities.
"This really matters because strategic priorities help establish where the city wants to go," said City Administrator Jason Baker. "This workshop helps bridge the gap between policy and implementation."
Throughout the discussion the council heard some updates on projects already in the works as well as talked about projects it would like to see started in the city.
Public Works Director Matthew York talked briefly about the downtown revitalization project and the planning process that has recently started.
"We have begun work with SEH. We've had two meetings with SEH and our work group. Their goal is to have a community meeting on Sept. 10 I believe... it will be for community engagement," York said.
After that a proposed cost of the project scope will be presented to the council, likely in the beginning of October.
Economic Development Director, Ned Koppen, also talked about a housing study that recently concluded.
"I think we're all aware that we have some housing challenges and those are varied," he said.
In a follow up discussion with the group that conducted the study, Koppen said they pointed out a few things including the fact that the population growth is flat, there is a housing shortage and the blight level is relatively high for a community of this size.
"I think that we're already addressing some of the blight issues with plenty more work to do," Koppen said.
However he said council might want to consider creating some incentives for new home builds or building new infrastructure to support a new subdivision.
Later in the discussion, the council talked more in depth about blight. Council Member James Kotewa said that code enforcement needs to be a priority.
Council Member Randy Lubenow agreed and said he would support adding another staff member to do code enforcement.
"It is time consuming and it's not a fun job... it is a big picture item and it's one of the reasons why I joined the council because Ward 3, Ward 4, has a lot of issues," Lubenow said.
Council Member Britney Kawecki asked if there is money available to help with blight issues.
Koppen said there is a chunk of money in the Local Housing Trust Fund that could help with rehab/blight but that there is also money in the demolition fund.
Finance Director Paul Hoye added, "We have about $350,000 sitting in that fund. We have money available. It's just getting the properties and getting ownership of the properties is the hardest part."
Kawecki asked for an update on the code study being done by MSA. Koppen said it should be done by the middle of August or early September but Kawecki asked what the holdup was.
"It's been five years," Kawecki said.
Koppen agreed that the length of the process has ben frustrating but he pointed out that there has been turnover with staff which has caused the project to start and stop multiple times.
Kawecki said she wants it to be a top priority and Koppen and Baker both agreed that it is a top priority for the city.
Road work projects were also touched on. York acknowledged the Blue Earth Avenue project that is currently in the works. He said that next year as part of the five year plan that the city will be in year two of, there will be Park Street and Orient Street projects, both of which will be total reconstruction projects.
"For parks and recreation improvements, we've been basically doing the same things we've been doing year after year," York said.
He said Emerald Ash Borer continues to be an issue. Updating playground equipment and continuing work at the lift station are also ongoing.
York did suggest that the council come up with some sort of master plan to figure out what it wants to do with all of the parks as it would help staff budget and prioritize.
Lubenow acknowledged a recent comment he made about the possibility of making some lesser used parks go to native grass. He specifically listed Bulhead Park, Christenson Park and Charlotte Park, which don't see a lot of community use.
"Can we look at some of those areas of doing some native grass?" Lubenow added. "It will cut down on all of the mowing we'll have to do and we're always looking for places to put native grass to help filter the water."
York said that would be part of a figuring out what parks the city all has and what it wants to do with them as he agreed that some parks are well-used and some are not.
"I think we do need to do something, but like I said, we can't do everything all at once because everything is going to cost," York said.
The council also spent some time talking about the lakes. However at an earlier work session this week it also talked in length about the lakes as the council would like to spend about $2 million of the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) funds on future lake projects.
"A formal lakes management plan written by a professional is important and I feel that needs to be in the Capital Improvement Plan for 2027," Kawecki said.
Moving to another portion of the workshop agenda, Baker went over some community initiatives and opportunities. He listed some off to gauge council's interests. Some of these included Tree City USA, community branding and regional partnerships.
Council Member James Kotewa said, in regards to regional partnerships, that Region 9 would be a good resource and has grants available.
In closing the work session, Baker asked if there was anything else the council wanted to address.
"I think the biggest thing I hear from businesses is we need more people who want to work in Fairmont," Lubenow said. "That's all tied to housing, as Ned said, and daycare."
He said that while Building Blocks is a good option, it's also expensive. Lubenow said that some in home day care centers have also recently closed for one reason or another.
"Housing and daycare are definitely two things people look for when they're going to move to Fairmont to be employees," Lubenow said.
Kawecki said she would like to see detailed plans for all projects, whether they be big or small. She mentioned a potential police and fire hall.
Those two and a potential city hall were talked about further when Hoye presented a draft document of the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) which had projects outlined for consideration in the next five years.
"I think that's one of the things we need further clarification on from the council as far as facilities. Right now we have the fire hall in there," said Hoye.
Baker said that in reviewing past reports and studies, he plans to work with Hoye and department heads to gather more information.
Kawecki referenced a design done in the past by Brunton Architects but she asked whether a needs analysis was done.
"They did a needs facility assessment for the fire department," Hoye said.
York added that as part of that, they looked at space needs of other facilities but said a formal study wasn't done.
"I would want to see a complete needs analysis for all three updated," Kawecki said.
Mayor Lee Baarts added that for a few years the city wasn't looking at building its own police facility as it had planned to go into the county's new justice center, which didn't end up panning out.
"I agree with Councilor Kawecki that we probably need to see what are needs are, whether it be city hall, whether it be police, whether it be fire," said Kotewa.
Baker thanked council for its input and said said that staff would talk about the discussion on Monday and then get some budget workshops scheduled.