Fully informed citizenry is only just

To the Editor:

There was an open house on Nov. 2nd to inform Fairmont citizens on the proposed Fairmont Community Center. I attended the open house to learn more about this project. I expected to be educated on all costs of my investment, but I was very disappointed. I saw the cost to build the facility, a range of $23-46 million. The range depends upon how much is built and when it is built. I was provided no information on the cost to access something I/we built and own (yes, our money), or the cost to maintain the facility and who will own that obligation.

This Wednesday, Nov. 9th, the City is holding a joint work session on the proposed Fairmont Community Center. It is being held from 5-6 p.m. in the SMEC Educational building on Park Street. All involved players will be in attendance. The public is welcome, but there is limited seating. This meeting will also be broadcast on the local TV channel.

My hope is that this meeting will further educate us as to any additional financial obligation expected of Fairmont’s citizenry. If the reason for no details on membership fees or operation and maintenance costs is that they do not yet have the building plans finalized, then I expect to hear estimates (or ranges) for these costs. This is not the first such facility built, meaning there are examples out there to draw upon so we can start to imagine the ongoing obligations. If we are not given any information in this very important piece then there cannot be a decision made by the city council until we are fully informed and have the opportunity to give our opinions.

Terry Riggs

Fairmont