City of Fisher issued the following announcement on July 23.
I hope this letter finds you and your families in good health and spirits.
I am writing you today on behalf of the residents of the Fisher Community. While my statements may not be true for every individual they do represent a good portion of our population and general consensus of the community.
The topic of terminating the City Offices lease has abruptly appeared on the school board agenda for this Tuesday. I had planned on requesting an audience with you at the upcoming meeting to discuss future plans for how the school and city will work together, but I realize now that there is no time to have a formal discussion. I apologize in advance if this has led to an inconvenience of emails or phone calls.
Most of you have been around long enough to remember the referendum from 20 years ago in which the school needed money to demolish the old school building and add on the new wing. Much like the most recent referendum proposal, the initial proposal from 20 years ago was voted down. In fact, the community did not support any new addition until it was ensured that this new school would not only be a source for quality education, but also a focal point of the community.
Thus the city offices were relocated to the school, the library was opened as a community resource, a weight room was added to better not only students but also residents, and a large community kitchen was incorporated to feed our growing school and offer a way for large-group gatherings to provide a safe food-handling facility.
All of these pieces came together to form not only a better school but also a better community. You would be hard pressed to find a resident in our school district that has not benefited from these resources being available at the school.
Much like the issues you are facing in regards to space, we too are also faced with the problem of not having a place to go. As you're probably well aware, there are no open buildings on Main Street, no vacant lots in which to build, and no other community spaces to place a temporary building.
If we were forced to vacate our location at the school our only options would be to purchase and build on a new lot, which would increase everyone's tax assessments or to take the community/training room away from the emergency center which would mean that the Fire Department and First Responders will not have a room to hold trainings, the Cemetery Board would not have a space to hold meetings, the Chamber of Commerce would not have a location to hold the annual "Celebrate the Season" event, even graduation parties and other personal celebrations would be losing out on a valuable location that is utilized by many people in our city.
Now, as we enter these unprecedented times, we all understand that new policies and procedures will need to take place. However, we believe that this can still be accomplished without the loss of our beloved school resources.
Specifically, at this time, we are requesting that you do not terminate the lease agreement between the City of Fisher and the School. We would be more than willing to relocate to a different room in the school, but we strongly feel that having the City offices in correlation with the school is beneficial for not only both our parties but also the residents in our district.
I would ask that you board members, as representatives of the community, go out and ask your neighbors and families how they feel about this topic. Please keep all residents in mind as any decisions that affect the City of Fisher will also affect all of its businesses and residents.
Original source can be found here.
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