So, the last time I was here they had a candidate forum and it was disappointing that there wasn't more of the public here. The candidates were here and we had a great discussion for two and a half hours. So, you guys tonight want to have a short meeting, we will see if we can at least match maybe?
On April 28th, a woman’s life was saved when both the Fire and Police departments responded to a report of an overdose and administered naloxone. Fargo Cass Public Health has trained and equipped local law enforcement agencies with Narcan using funds provided by the State Targeted Response to the Opioid Crisis grant. Agencies receiving Narcan are the Fargo Police Department, West Fargo Police Department, NDSU Police and the Cass County Sheriff's Office. Since October, Fargo Cass Public Health has provided Narcan training to 555 people, including law enforcement, schools and area non-profits. We are doing a much better job.
On May 2nd, five staff members from the Gladys Ray Shelter and Detox Center presented a breakout session at the 7th Annual White Earth Harm Reduction Summit in Mahnomen, Minnesota. The summit attracted 600 attendees.
Fargo Cass Public Health coordinated an Emergency Preparedness and Response training exercise at Fargo North High on April 27th. The exercise was designed to test the capability to set up and conduct a Point of Dispensing operation, where medications would be distributed to residents in the event of a public health emergency. More than 100 people participated in the exercise. It was an interesting exercise in which we have to do once and a while. And, it shows that we are able to engage in a natural disaster and get the proper security in regards to that.
There are several interesting and engaging programs for residents of all ages at the Library this week and next.
The annual Spring Gardening Series is off to a great start with local gardening experts offering tips and techniques for making gardens healthy and beautiful. Sessions are held Tuesdays at 7 p.m. through May 22.
On May 13th at 2 p.m., the Carlson Library will host Crazy Horse family members Floyd Clown and Doug War Eagle, along with author William B. Matson, as they share Matson’s book “Crazy Horse: The Lakota Warrior's Life and Legacy,” which tells the unique story and history of the legendary leader.
Teens will have another opportunity to make diffuser necklaces for Mother’s Day on Tuesday starting at 4 p.m. at the Carlson Library.
The vacancy rate of apartments continues to be between 9 and 10 percent. There was a significant change in the downtown Fargo vacancy rate, declining from 9.68 percent to 7.28 percent. The highest vacancy rate continues to be in southwest Fargo, where the vacancy rate increased from 13.34 percent to 14.45 percent. The majority of new apartments are in southwest Fargo, and it takes time to rent units. The Inspections Department has permitted two apartment buildings with 98 units in the first four months of this year. We continue to see that go down as far as how many apartment buildings are coming into the metro area.
It’s Cleanup Week in the metro area. The annual event cleans up our cities by giving residents an opportunity to dispose of tires, appliances and other large items at no charge on their regular garbage pickup day. A complete list of dos and don’ts can be found on the City of Fargo website or at cleanupweek.com. Commissioner Gehrig had a questions, "can you put mattresses out there?". Yes, you can.
Relocation website movebuddha.com has ranked Fargo as one of the most popular places to relocate in the United States. Their study looked at the thousands of searches done on its site to see which cities and towns in the U.S. are being search as a relocation destination. In the 100 to 200 thousand population category, Fargo ranked in the top 25 most searched cities.
Today, we had an interesting display in the lobby and you can go out and take a look at that. We had the presence of a new temporary exhibition by NDSU senior architecture students under Professor David Crutchfield and they were out there showing us what they would like to do. Based upon the Go2030 Masterplan, this exhibit anticipates exciting urban design proposals for the City of Fargo. The students created a variety of models, team reports and individual presentation boards that present an exciting vision of Fargo in the year 2050. Common development themes include public transit nodes, increased density and health-oriented walk-able/bike-able mixed-use communities. All great ideas for improving our growing community. Congratulations to those graduating with their bachelor’s degree, with most continuing into the master’s program. The only thing is that they didn't have a budget for me. All of their projects cost well over 300 million dollars and I wasn't quite sure I could pull that from the general fund. But, we are going to have the students stand up just like we have everyone else do in this room. When I call your name, would you kindly stand up? We can then give applause at the end.
The students are: Joe Bakke, Tyler Bassett, Emily Fegley, Conner Grann, Haley Heintzman, Mitch Nagel and Austin Stokke. We also have two students who are from Belgium, Charles Van Oost and Florence de Haen. And, Dave would you like to stand up as well? Let's give them a round of applause.
Thank you very much for coming today. There are some nice visions out there; we will see if some of the Commissioners take them apart later.