ABOVE: Pat Oman, the new Community Development Director for the city of Fairmont.

FAIRMONT– The city of Fairmont recently added a new Community Development Director to its staff. Pat Oman started the role just this week and brings with him nearly 30 years of diverse experience in city/county government administration and project management.

The Community Development Director reports to the city administrator and is responsible for organizing and directing the full range of the city’s community development operations. There will also be planning and legislative work and special projects under the direction of the city administrator. There are a few city departments under the Community Development Director, which includes planning and zoning, economic development and building code enforcement.

City Administrator Matt Skaret said that the position is not entirely new to Fairmont as the city had a Director of Planning Services up until about five years ago.

“It’s a position we’re bringing back with a new title and the purpose of the position is to provide some better structure, organization and leadership to our community development department,” Skaret said.

He stressed that the city already has good and capable people working in the community development department but Oman will be able to lend his expertise to help the departments better provide their services in a more cost effective and efficient manner for the people of Fairmont.

Oman said that his work history covers most of the state of Minnesota and that his most recent position was in Becker County as the county administrator. Prior to that, other positions he’s held include county administrator of Mille Lacs County and city administrator of Moose Lake.

“Prior to being in government administration, I spent 16 years as an economic development executive managing a county economic development department in Carlton County,” Oman said.

With that he developed economic development policies, revolving loan funds, business recruitment and expansion and set up an economic development authority housing redevelopment authority.

However, right out of college, Oman worked as a product development engineer and corporate manager for Honeywell.

“I really got into economic development and then public administration at Honeywell. During those times a lot of jobs were being moved overseas and it wasn’t something I was interested in being a part of. I was interested in creating wealth in the community that I serve,” Oman said.

Originally Oman is from the small town of Barnum which is about five miles north of Moose Lake. For most of his career the positions he’s held had been in central to northern Minnesota.

One thing he found unique about Fairmont is its large square footage and all of the ag-based businesses in it.

“I’m used to ag-based businesses but the type of product can sometimes be different,” Oman said.

He recognizes Fairmont as a very community-oriented city that’s very interested in forward-thinking initiatives.

Oman was also drawn to this role because it’s a new position.

“I’m always motivated to be part of something new–something different, something first– so that intrigued me. Interviews are two-way streets but I found that there are a lot of potential beyond the potential the city has,” Oman said.

He touched on housing needs as an example and pointed out that there’s a price point that many citizens can afford, but also price points that many citizens can’t afford.

“What I’m finding is any house that’s around $150,000 is not on the market very long,” Oman said.

Under the direction of the city administrator and with the city council, Oman said he’d like the review the city’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan, as well as a develop a lakes management plan, a best practice economic development plan and look at code enforcement and how that can be improved.

“Those are things I’ll review and under the direction of the city council we may have some best practice changes to make,” Oman said.

In looking at the various departments Oman will work with in this role, he said the work is related because when a business looks at the community, they look a lot at the rules and how they can build and whether it’s a business-friendly process. Oman noted that existing businesses consider this too as they look to expand.

As part of that he said they will likely look at the zoning ordinances to ensure that people driving through the community sees good structure and businesses and houses looking to a certain quality.

Oman noted that despite all of his experience, this is still a newly created department for the city so it comes with a learning curve for him. Since starting he’s been working on meeting all of the staff and learning of the current projects they’re engaged with, as well as familiarizing himself with the city.

Prior to taking the role with the city Oman did a lot of research on Fairmont which included watching the city council meetings, reading newspaper articles and even reading through the 163-page 2040 plan.

“What I appreciate is that it (Fairmont) has all of the legs of the table that you’e looking for in a community. It has light industrial, ag-based businesses, tourism and retail. It has all of those pieces which not all communities can say,” Oman said. What’s so unique about this city is, what city do you see four or five lakes connected down the spine of the city geography. That intrigued me.”

He is aware of some of the challenges Fairmont is facing, but said it was part of why he was interested in the position because there are opportunities to help the community improve.

“At the end of the day, my goal is to appreciate and understand, as a governing body, what is the city council looking for. They all have their own issues and interests and I want to understand where they’re coming from and where they feel the citizens they represent are coming from,” Oman said.

At the coming Fairmont City Council on Monday, Oman will introduce himself to the full city council.

“We’re excited to have Pat on board and I feel fortunate that we were able to attract him and hire him for this position. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience and has a strong background in economic development and community development and planning,” Skaret said.