Trio of businesses open downtown

Anyone who tries to say there’s nothing downtown really hasn’t looked recently because almost every storefront is now full. The downtown area has seen a few new businesses offering various services move in and they’re all a welcome addition.

Council revisits arena, community center

For the first time in awhile, the Fairmont City Council talked about the Martin County Arena and the proposed community center project during its meeting on Monday. However, the conversation went much the way it’s been going on and off for the past few years and no decisions were made. Council members voiced dissatisfaction with the contract, or lack thereof, with the hockey association and fair board, and Council Member Randy Lubenow said he’s now extending his own personal deadline on making a decision about the community center by another month. Both he and Council Member Jay Maynard said they’ve had conversations with “key” people and that some kind of revelation will be made soon. We can only hope that this is true because as the project is going on nine years, I speak for the community when I say we want to see something happen one way or another.

HRA considers housing study

The HRA heard the need to do a new housing study at its meeting this week as the last full study was done in 2013. As housing has been a hot topic at the local level recently, it was good that the Fairmont City Council officially approved to undergo the study. The study will look at what’s out there for families, seniors and immigrants, as well as price range and future population demographics for the city. It’s good to see this kind of forward momentum to address something that’s very much needed.

‘We count on people who care about the cemetery’

Lakeside Cemetery is now the owner of a new lawnmower thanks to generous donations from the community, businesses and organizations. As Fox Lake Conservation League’s gambling manager, Chris Eisenmenger said, with more than 10,000 people buried there, nearly everyone knows someone who rests at Lakeside. Supporting a place so vast, that contains so much history, really takes a village and it’s great to see the community support the cause.