On June 29, Fargo was hit by a storm with winds in excess of 80 miles per hour. As a result, high volumes of branches have been placed at the curb in many areas of the city. The Forestry Division, Street Department and contracted staff continue to work extended days for more than 776 man-hours to date. Crews have made 5,471 stops, averaging 683 per day. The event produced 97 necessary street tree removals and the collection of more than 200 tons of wood chips and brush. Normal operation wood chip disposal is at the landfill or compost site. However, the City is extremely fortunate for our partners at the Fargo Park District, the Fargo Public Schools and the FARGODOME for providing temporary wood-chip storage locations. This helps ensure that chipping crews remain focused on collecting tree debris as soon as possible. Forestry staff will soon be conducting a post event review to identify additional street tree needs, such as pruning. Brush collection occurs with the recycling day. However, crews are behind schedule but are progressing as quickly, safely and efficiently as possible. The public’s continued patience is appreciated.
Inspections has debuted its new Inspections software to the public. We have made it easy for you to go online and get your permit from start to finish. Citizens and contractors can go online to begin a permit request, request an inspections, submit residential plans online, interact with plan reviewers and pay fees with credit card. We look forward to helping citizens and contractors use our new online tools to accomplish plan review and permitting needs.
The Fargo Public Library participated in the opening day of the Red River Market on July 13. More than 750 people stopped by the libraries booth to find out more about all that the Fargo Public Library has to offer.
The Fargo Cass Public Health and Fargo Police Substation building in south Fargo is about to look a lot more colorful and welcoming. A Miami-based artist has been commissioned to paint a mural in collaboration with the Fargo Police and North High School art students. The mural, titled “Unity,” is being spearheaded by Community Trust Officer Michael Bloom and muralist Alex Lopez, who specializes in typography and graphic design. The mural celebrates youth, unity and community and portrays an officer, kids and inspirational messages. The public is invited to watch the artist and students at work during the Unity Mural Grill Out on Monday, July 22nd, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the parking lot of Fargo Cass Public Health. Burgers and brats will be served and a $5 suggested donation benefits the North High School art program.
The City of Fargo has been recognized as one of the top ten best-run cities in the United States for 2019 in a study just conducted by WalletHub. Additionally, Fargo’s “Quality of City Services” rank was the sixth best of the 150 most populated cities in the nation. Fargo excelled in multiple categories, earning top ten distinctions for its educational opportunities and its economy. Earlier this year, WalletHub named Fargo one of the six happiest cities to live in America.
Tonight is the debut of our new campaign to showcase the members of Team Fargo and the work being done each day by these dedicated employees, with a focus on a different City department every two weeks. This campaign, titled “We Work For You,” begins tonight with Fargo’s Solid Waste Department and will be shared on social media, our public access channels and across print media. We hope you enjoy this new “behind the scenes” look at your City in action.