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Politics & Government

Lakeville's Vacant Police Station to Hit Market After All?

Council discusses bevy of issues during a busy work session.

Revisiting the –again–and a change in the willingness to place the were among two surprises during an active work session Monday evening that saw the Lakeville City Council tackle a bevy of issues that has filled its plate recently.

The council also moved forward with plans for a to be conducted in the coming months, the formation of a financial task force that would serve the council in an advisory and information gathering capacity with regard to city financial matters, as well as the creation of a development process forum to gain insight into the city’s development procedures and policies from professionals involved in that process.

Comprehensive Liquor Store Analysis

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The council discussed the terms of a Request for Proposal (RFP) to be sent out to at least five consulting firms in their efforts to analyze the overall picture of the city’s municipal liquor store operations. City Administrator Steve Mielke informed the council that previous estimates for having an analysis of the liquor operations done were anticipated at $15,000 to $30,000 but that those studies were a little “less insightful” than the one currently being contemplated.

“We really couldn’t find a study comparable to this,” Mielke told the council with regard to city staff’s research into other communities that have taken on similar research. “All we can do is put an RFP out there and find out from there” how much the current proposed study would cost.

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The proposed analysis seeks to compare Lakeville’s municipal liquor operations to other communities with private off-sale stores, the impact on property taxes, overall financial performance, a valuation of total assets including buildings, land and inventory, legislative trends that could impact operations, and variables surrounding a potential new liquor store location in the vicinity of County Road 70 and I-35.

A proposed timeline for the analysis would give consultants until April 20 to submit their proposals with the council approving a contract for the work by June 6 if they elect to move forward. The final analysis would be presented to the council sometime in October.

Funding for the project would come out of the city’s liquor fund balance which currently sits at just over $6 million in reserves.

2011 Budget

After revisiting the 2011 budget and cutting an additional $132,000, Mayor Mark Bellows indicated that the council would “leave time during the next work session to go back and revisit the 2011 budget one more time.”

Also on the table will be discussion of a police department records technician position that was originally slated for approval in 2012 but was moved up to the last six months of 2011 when council member Matt Little volunteered half of his salary to help pay for the position this year.

That donation is scheduled on the agenda for the City Council meeting on April 4.

Council member Laurie Rieb felt the time could better be spent on the 2012 budget.

"We've gone over 2011 budget, that money has already (been) collected," said Rieb. "Let's concentrate our efforts on 2012, that levy hasn’t been set yet. At some point we have to move forward."

Police Department

In a surprise statement, council member Kerrin Swecker announced she had changed her mind to now support placing the vacant police department building on the market beginning in June.

That move, she said, would allow the to complete their currently underway on the feasibility of relocating to the empty building along with the historical society.

“I’m just sharing with the council that I’m not opposed, where I have been in the past,” said Swecker. “I completely agree that we need to test the market a little bit and we need to be doing it sooner rather than later.”

Swecker had previously sided with council members Little and Rieb in a 3-2 vote to table the issue of selling the police station indefinitely. The council can choose to bring that motion to sell the police station back to life at any time with enough support.

“From my perspective, this is an issue I want to do right,” said Little who brought the motion forward that effectively blocked putting the police station on the market. “We have a host of different alternatives and it’s not just about the senior center, it’s about finding the proper use for (the station). I don’t think it was a good thing we didn’t have a use for it” when the building was vacated.

Other Business

In other discussions the council also addressed the formation of a financial task force that would assist and advise the council on pertinent financial issues related to the city. Preliminary plans call for a possible nine-member panel made up of citizen volunteers from a wide range of financial perspectives. The task force would be open for public applications and applicants would be interviewed and selected by city staff and the council.

Responsibilities would entail working with city staff to conduct audits, creating open house events to help solicit community feedback on financial matters, and helping to create public education materials for the city budget among other tasks.

A Development Process Forum is also in discussions. That forum would utilize information gleaned from a comprehensive survey sent to area commercial, industrial and residential developers regarding the city’s development policies and procedures in an effort to improve the development experience in working with the city.

The council next meets during a regularly scheduled meeting April 4.

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