FAIRBORN — Fairborn City Council passed an ordinance Tuesday that would allow a Dollar General to be constructed in a building that has sat vacant for at least eight years.
The facility, located at 1854 South Maple Ave., was previously utilized as a pediatrician office. However, it will be demolished and reconstructed to house the retail store, providing 12 permanent jobs. It will be 9,100 square feet in size, and open 8 a.m. until 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. Sunday.
Council members expressed concerns in regards to disturbing citizens who live around the area. However, the city and company are making efforts to have the lowest impact possible, by only having security lights present on the front and one side of the building, in addition to planting foliage and constructing a wooden fence on the back side of the building.
“My concern is the residents who live [behind it],” Mayor Dan Kirkpatrick said in regards to the security lighting. “They’re not going to be disturbed by security lighting, plus the new foliage that’s going in … One of the issues with the citizens who live behind it was the extra lighting.”
Council passed a resolution to adopt a five-year capital improvement plan, which provides a guide to city projects coming down the pike.
Items for 2016 include replacing the roof on the municipal court building, partnering with the Fairborn City School District to replace the sign at the high school with an electronic one that would announce school and city events and information, replacing the water lines and street on Ohio Street and Wright Avenue, updating to the next generation 911 system, improving the metering system at all residencies, upgrading the Southeast lift station, revising the FEMA flood map (redrawing the lines on the flood plan (therefore saving homeowners money on flood insurance), network upgrades (which would improve networks city-wide) and improving the quint/engine.
“It provides the community a road map of a variety of capitol improvement needs that benefit Fairborn for the next five years,” Assistant Manager Pete Bales said. “All of the items listed … are considered when preparing this plan … They’re extremely well thought out projects that go through many different levels of scrutiny.”
Director Daniel Semsel of the veterans employment services of Goodwill Easter Seals Miami Valley announced that Veterans and Employer Connection program, started in 2013 and ran through GESMV, has employed 421 veterans, and presented the city with a plaque.
“The initiative that we set up … to tie together the community – the employers, the support agencies and community agencies around the greater Miami Valley to help do something about veterans unemployment,” Semsel said. “In 2013, the unemployment numbers for veterans … were staggering, they were easily at 50 percent plus over the average unemployment numbers for the state … the City of Fairborn has been a member of the connection since Sept. 1, 2014, and I wanted to make a presentation to the City of Fairborn recognizing that. Since we started this program and went live in June 2014, we’ve successfully employed 421 veterans in the Miami Valley.”
City Manager Deborah McDonnell announced a program that allows citizens to see what their tax dollars are spent on, found on the landing page of the city’s website. It is ran through Opengov, and allows viewers to break down city expenditures in a variety of ways.
“I think this is a fantastic program … A lot of communities are talking about doing something like this,” Kirkpatrick said. “I want to compliment Fairborn and the staff for … [being] ahead of many cities.”
Council will hold a public hearing in regards to a public nuisance abatement program, which relates to reducing crime, combating drug-related offenses, dismissing problem-residents and decreasing other public nuisances, at its next council meeting, Monday, Sept. 21.
