Issues: Growth

There's a persistent rumor going around that some members of Council and staff don't want Fairmont to grow. They claim that we want it to become a retirement community. That couldn't be farther from the truth.

 

Ned Koppen and the Fairmont Economic Development Authority work hard and tirelessly to attract new business to Fairmont and help those that are here to stay and grow. That work happens behind the scenes, where the public can't see it. It's slow. It takes a lot of effort. Results are only visible when businesses announce their decisions, and that happens very late in the game.

 

We can't simply wave a magic wand and have businesses rushing to open in Fairmont. It just doesn't work that way. It's a long, involved process for a business to decide to start, or expand, or move here. If we were to tell the world that a business was coming here before they actually finalized the decision, it would more often than not scare them off.

 

There's also a persistent belief in the community that our building inspector is a major cause of businesses not wanting to come to Fairmont and contractors not wanting to come here. There are lots of complaints, but the actual facts are scarce on the ground. Not only that, but in those cases that have been brought to my attention, the building inspector was not only justfied, but legally required, to impose the requirements he did.

 

Just as with any other city employee, Council cannot tell the building inspector how to do his job. We can and do tell staff that we want them to not just say no, but work with people to find a way to do what they want to do. But that's the extent of it. The building inspector has a job to do, and that job is subject to some pretty stringent legal requirements. We cannot and should not try to tell him to ignore the law in service of bringing business to Fairmont.

 

Some people say we're too strict on enforcing building codes. The reality is that any reputable contractor expects to be held to code and plans accordingly. The cases I've gotten actual facts about have been when people try to skirt the code or other legal requirements. The building inspector's job is to stop that kind of thing. Don't like the legal requirements? Don't take it out on the building inspector. He can't change or ignore them. Go talk to the folks in St. Paul.

 

I defy anyone who thinks that Council or staff opposes growth here in Fairmont to name one person who does. They won't be able to.