Lakeville City Council Rift Widens Over Vacant Police Station

A motion to put was tabled indefinitely by the City Council on Monday evening after it was clear the majority of the council wasn't in favor of the move.

The measure was originally discussed and voted on during the Feb. 22 council meeting but resulted in a 2-2 deadlock in those proceedings.

During the February meeting, Mayor Mark Bellows and Council Member Colleen Ratzlaff Labeau voted in favor of the motion, brought by Labeau. Council members Kerrin Swecker and Matt Little opposed the motion. Council member Laurie Rieb was absent.

The measure was not a planned agenda item for the Feb. 22 meeting and came as a surprise to many, including Rieb, who has been extremely vocal about the unplanned vote being taken in her absence. Due to the deadlocked 2-2 vote in the previous meeting, the motion was automatically carried over as unfinished business to Monday’s agenda.

Rieb cast her vote in favor of tabling the issue indefinitely to break the tie after a spirited debate among council members regarding rules and procedures and what the best use for the facility should be.

The had been mentioned as a possible joint tenant for the building along with the .  Members of those organizations had begun an analysis of moving and renovation costs for sharing the facility and are currently in the process of surveying their 1,200 members on the idea. Both organizations have reached capacity at their current locations.

A report by Wold Architects on renovation costs was presented to the , as was a proposal by Wally Potter, a Historical Society board member. Rough estimates exceeded $700,000 for the project. The senior center has been estimated to have an approximate value of $400,000 and would most likely need to be sold to help finance any renovations before they could begin.

“Has there been a change of heart?” Potter asked the council during the citizen comments portion of the meeting. “When this motion comes up, I hope that you think about what our meetings were in the past and let this thing play out.”

When the unresolved motion did come up later in the evening, Bellows defended his position for wanting to place the building up for sale.

“I’ve been the most vocal proponent,” he said, “and I think it’s an embarrassment to the city that we have sat on that asset in these struggling times.”

The vacant police building has previously been valued at $1.6 million.

“I would say to our senior members that I think the building is very challenging and inadequate for your needs,” said Bellows. He said the fire department administration is also in need of additional space. “We need to talk about core essential services in this community,” said Bellows. “Not to offend the senior center, but the fire department would take precedence.”

Previously Bellows had stated that the building would be better suited as a possible future liquor store location when the lease on the current Heritage store expires.

Bellows feels placing the building on the market would best give the city an idea of its value when considering its ultimate fate.

“This necessitates testing the market to see how the market responds,” he said. “It doesn’t mean we would have to accept an offer if it was on the market.”

Labeau, who initiated the motion to sell, said she had no intent to undermine the organizations’ abilities to do a study or move forward. “I thought it would still give you time and in the end, there is no danger or hurt in giving the community a sign that all of the potential ideas are out there,” she said.

“I don’t see a need to apologize for that,” Bellows commented and urged the council to take action.

But the mayor ran into opposition from council members as he moved for another vote.

“I thought it was disrespectful to our seniors,” said Swecker about the decision to take a surprise vote during the previous meeting. “It wasn’t appropriate.”

Swecker says a tax neutral solution is important and also worries about the timing.

“If we put it on the market in a down economy we’re not going to get the full value that we could,” she said.

Rieb stated she would like the council to take more time and explore all of the options before taking any action; a statement echoed by Little.

Some of the additional options mentioned in the discussion included seeing if the post office would be interested in moving in to the police station and looking at , which will be closed by the school district at the conclusion of the current school year,  as a possible solution to the senior center and historical society dilemma. That building, said Bellows, may be more suitable for the organizations’ long-term needs.

Little asserted that doing the homework right and researching the issue fully before drawing conclusions and placing the building up for sale was the prudent route and attempted numerous times to get his motion to table recognized.

“And the statement we’re making to the community means what?” asked Bellows. “That we have an inability to take action?”

“It shows that we won’t take action until we have all the information,” Little responded.

Ultimately, the mayor was forced to concede to take a vote on Little’s motion to table the issue after City Attorney Roger Knutson confirmed Little’s point of order that his motion took precedence over an open motion for action.

 “This has certainly prompted a healthy discussion,” noted Bellows after the vote.