Last week, Fargo Cass Public Health and The City of Fargo co-hosted the documentary “Beyond the Bridge: A Solution to Homelessness.” About 150 community members attended the event, which also featured a panel discussion and Q&A. This was a follow-up to the series of conversations that took place in February facilitated by James Mathy, Milwaukee County Housing Administrator and author of “Milwaukee County’s Plan to End Chronic Homelessness.”
June 24 is the final City Commission meeting for Desi Fleming, Director of Fargo Cass Public Health. The entire team at Fargo Cass Public Health wishes to thank Desi for her more than 30 years of dedicated service to the community, her leadership during the pandemic and the fun and laughter she brought to the office. We all wish her the very best in her retirement.
Last week, The City of Fargo issued building permits for the airport parking garage and terminal expansion. The permit for the parking garage was $37.8 million and the terminal expansion was $94 million. An official ground breaking is scheduled July 1.
Residents are encouraged to volunteer this summer at the Carlson Library Learning Garden plots. Sessions are weekly at 10 a.m. on Thursday mornings, weather permitting.
Fargo Public Library staff will have a booth at the Fargo Police Community Picnic happening at Broadway Square on June 26 to promote the Summer Reading Challenge, along with resources, services and upcoming events.
The apartment vacancy rate in Fargo is 6.93% as of March 1, which is down a third of a percent from 7.32% in December 2023. It is still 2.7% higher than a year ago when it dipped to 4.2%. Currently, there are 852 apartment units under construction. Apartment permits in 2024 are less than previous years. There have been only two apartment buildings permitted in 2024 – the 110-unit Lashkowitz by the Fargo Housing Authority and the 168-unit Avery by Kilbourne Group, which is adjacent to the new city parking garage on NP Avenue. In 2023, 933 apartments were permitted and in 2022, 945 apartments were permitted.
I want to take this opportunity to recognize three outgoing members of the Planning Commission. John Gunkleman, Rocky Schneider and Dawn Morgan have all provided leadership in the development of neighborhoods and the overall community. All three are active community members of our Core Neighborhoods and represent important topics crucial to the work of the Planning Commission and City of Fargo. John has served since 2011, Rocky since 2013 and Dawn since 2017 and I hope all three continue to participate in city and community development because they have so much knowledge and expertise. We thank the dedication and volunteer spirit of all three and also recognize the three incoming knowledgeable volunteer members. We are thankful that so many citizens are interested in being part of their community and we are eternally thankful for the legacy that John, Rocky and Dawn leave with The City.
The City of Fargo recently held an essay contest for third and fifth graders in Fargo Public Schools. We asked the kids to answer the question: What would you do if you were mayor for a day? Nathan Asgedom, who just finished fifth grade at Kennedy Elementary, and Alex Zhao who just completed third grade at Longfellow Elementary, wrote outstanding essays that were judged based on their originality, content, grammar and structure. I want to give a big congratulations to Alex and Nathan, and to their families.