Building permits prove to be a hot topic at city council meeting

GRUNDY CENTER – On Monday night, the Grundy Center city council meeting gathered a large crowd of people who voiced concerns about the city’s building permit fees.
 During the public forum, several community members addressed the council. One of those people was Barbara Smith, who has lived in Grundy Center for over 50 years, and developed many commercial and residential properties in the community over that time period.
During her address to the council, Smith reviewed the numerous properties she and her husband Richard had added to the tax rolls in Grundy Center. Among those properties were the Canterbury Circle Residential Subdivision, the North Briar Mobile Home Park, the AmericInn of Grundy Center, a two-plex and four-plex apartment building, and several other lots and houses that are still on the tax rolls today.
“As young developers in this community back in those years, we did all those projects on a wing and a prayer with faith in this community,” Smith said. “If we had been hit 20 years ago (when the hotel was built) with a six or seven thousand dollar building permit fee, that project never would have happened. Most if not all of our projects would not have happened, and those structures and improvements would not be on the tax rolls today.”
For the full story, see the May 5 edition of The Grundy Register.