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Public Works facility

The Fairmont City Council remains divided on the need for a new Public Works Building. Why? At $167 per square foot for a 50 year building, that is by far the best option. The current building desparately needs replaced. This has been six years in planning and a previous council has already approved it.

A $5 million building makes no sense when you have to build another building for $2-3 million to house all the equipment. That puts the cost near $8 million with a pole-frame garage that is a 20-30 year building, whereas a steel-frame building will last for 50-60 years. A new building is clearly the best option moving forward.

Community Center

Fairmont residents are overdue for a decision on a new Community Center. This has been a five year long project. Voters approved a one-half of one percent local option sales tax for 25 years or until $15,000,000 in revenues have been generated. Then the YMCA was found to manage and operate the facility. There’s no financial responsibility from the city.

The YMCA program is also needed in our community. It’s not just about gyms and swimming pools, it’s their program and what they do for the youth. Our community leaders blew it years ago when they did not want to develop the Day Farm with a community college. That went down the road to Jackson. We don’t want to see the same decision made now with the YMCA.

With all the work that the City and community center committee has done the council needs to move forward and approve bonding.

CER office

The Fairmont School Board recently approved a two-year lease agreement with the city of Fairmont to rent an office space for the CER program in the SMEC building. This is a good move.

The Fairmont Community Education and Recreation program is a great resource for several fun learning opportunities.

CER will have a much larger space with the opportunity to schedule use for the rest of the building. That’s a lot of rooms to utilize for a variety of activities. In addition, the current CER offices in Fairmont Elementary School will be made into orchestra classrooms for elementary students, as the number of students in the program continues to grow.

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