Dear Grant City Citizens,
I would like to express my sincere appreciation and thanks to those who got out and voted in the last election. I have served as Mayor and Alderman for over 20 years and very much appreciate the opportunity to keep our community moving forward toward the future. This is my home and always will be in my heart as it is for many of you. We have seen many changes over the years; I can remember when the square was full of businesses and our population was 3 or 4 times what it is today. I like many of you feel sad to see what has happened to our city and county because of aging population, lack of jobs, no quality housing and many other issues we are facing.
For those of you that may not know; I was born and raised in Worth County and moved to Grant City when I was sixteen. I went to school there, got my first job at the sale barn, worked as a waitress for many years and in partnership with my brothers, opened a restaurant in 1978 after marrying my best friend in 1976. We were able to keep the restaurant going for 11 years before health issues for one of my brothers and my Mother forced us to close it and sell it in 1989; so, I know what it is like to be a business owner.
I was instrumental in getting Community Betterment restarted back in 1988 and have been involved with the community and surrounding area by serving on many boards, coordinating many events such as the fair, circus, festivals, yard sales and other events over the years by working with many other caring individuals. I have served on area, regional and statewide boards and continue to serve on many today. I have had the opportunity to see the issues many small communities deal with daily and they are all very similar. One of the most common issues faced by all small communities is code enforcement.
I am submitting this letter to explain a few things and hopefully make some understand why we as a City Council do some of the things we do. I plan on submitting more information in the future in the form of a letter to the Editor and hope you will take the time to read them. If you have any questions, concerns or issues; please feel free to attend any City Council meeting. They are open to the public and anyone can attend.
We may be a small community, but we have zoning regulations and rules that we follow just like any other municipality, big or small. We have areas that are zoned for commercial, residential, light industrial, manufacturing and agriculture.
Ordinances are another set of rules that every municipality has whether they are big or small. They are there to help our citizens feel that they are living in a safe, well-structured community and to protect you as a home owner or land owner with our city limits. We have building permits that are required to be submitted and approved before any structure such as a home, garage, fence or even a structure on skids is put in place. These are mainly to ensure you as the person putting the structure in place is not building it or placing it over a water, sewer or gas line. The ordinances are there for your protection as well as those around you.
As I stated before, I have attended many meetings, seminars and training sessions geared towards building a sustainable small community with a future. A few years ago, the Department of Economic Development put together a “Dream Team” which included members from almost every department at the state level. They picked 6 communities from across the state to visit and assisted them with a community evaluation. We were one of the 6 chosen and we hosted our meeting at the Fairgrounds building with approximately 30-40 people in attendance from Grant City/Worth County. At the end of the project they sent out the results of the meetings held in the 6 different communities from across the state and the top priority in all 6 was code enforcement and improving the aesthetic value (appearance) of their community.
The appearance of your community is what draws new businesses, manufacturing, new residents and other positive results to your community.
I see Facebook posts, read articles and have people approach me many times about different issues and concerns such as bringing new or more jobs to the community, adequate housing, retaining our youth, more service or health related amenities and many others.
Until we as a community take ownership of how we want our community to appear to others, none of these things are likely to happen.
A new business, manufacturing plant or other outside entity wants to move to a community that has a pleasing appearance, takes pride in their community and works together as a community to ensure it is a great place to live and work. Until the mindset of the community changes, we are unlikely to be able to accomplish these things.
The City along with many others in the community have accomplished some wonderful projects over the past years that are assets to our community.
The biggest hurdle we face is code enforcement and getting cooperation from some of our citizens to follow those ordinances and work with us to make our community appealing to outside entities.
We have spent thousands of dollars in taxpayer money over the years trying to improve our community by sending letters asking for cooperation and filing court cases when needed. This if money that could be spent on other things to improve our community but until we change the mindset that some people have, it will not matter how much we spend, we will never attract new business, manufacturing or other amenities.
The City has a process in place to allow citizens to file a complaint about something that they think is wrong or that detracts from the value of their property. We need those complaints in writing to substantiate the offense if a court case if filed. Complaint forms are available at city hall or by calling one of the numbers below and asking for one.
Our process does not include a face to face talk with the person that is in violation of the ordinance, we send a letter letting you know what the violation is and asking you to abate the issue and/or attend the next city council meeting (3rd Wednesday’s of the month) to see if there is some way we can assist you or some way to resolve the issue without filing charges or going to court.
I am asking you, as a citizen to file a complaint at city hall if you want to see change. The appearance of a property affects the property value of those around it and could possibly be affecting the health and welfare of a child if they live within proximity to old tires that may have mosquitos, junk cars that may harbor animals that are not friendly, too many animals creating a health hazard with the waste run off, etc. Even unkept lawns can cause an issue if they are attracting mosquito’s or other animals that hide in the tall grass. If you receive a letter, please do your part and please do not make us spend the taxpayer’s money on unnecessary lawyer’s fees and court cases.
We need to take ownership of our community and do our part to improve the appearance on all levels if we want to see positive changes for the future of our community!
The City also has some issues we are working on with places that are not hooked up to the sewer, other infrastructure issues and maintaining our streets. But we can only do so much with the funds we have available. If you see something; in regard to the City, that you think might need addressed please come to a meeting and let us know and we will address it. We also understand that we have many old buildings that need to come down because of irresponsible owners not taking action or taking care of their property. It is much easier and less expensive for a private individual to tear down a structure than it is for a municipality. There are different rules for each and it would be very costly to the city if we are forced to do it. Another unnecessary expense for our taxpayers.
The current process for code enforcement is to file a complaint and we will review it and turn it over to our attorney if needed.
If your neighbor has an issue that think may need to be addressed, file a complaint and we will investigate it. They apparently don’t care how what they are doing affects you so please don’t feel that you may offend them by filing a complaint. Many times’ I have heard the response that no one else seems to be bothered but the city, so please step up and help us improve the quality of life and the appearance of our community so we can attract new businesses, manufacturing and new residents to the area.
The quality of life in our community does not rest solely on the City Council. The community is yours, if you want to see change step up and help us prepare our community for the future!
Feel free to stop by city hall and look at our ordinance book, call before you build, ask about zoning before you put a small business in a residential area or add livestock to property that may not be zoned for agriculture purposes. We are willing to work with anyone to accomplish the growth of our community; but it needs to be done in the right way!
City Administrator – 660-254-2857
City Hall – 660-564-3369
Thank you!
Debbie Roach, Mayor
City of Grant City
No comments:
Post a Comment