Decisions on New Northfield Safety Center Forthcoming

Northfield City Councilors said they are prepared to make decisions about the future of the city’s

The first of those decisions could be up for a vote at the council’s next regular meeting.

During their work session Tuesday, councilors talked about the most desirable way to get from where they are now—surrounded with binders filled with documents detailing each of the city’s options for a safety center—to having a safety center in place to meet the city’s needs.

Getting the council on track and moving forward might be as simple as bringing a motion forward for a vote, said Councilor Patrick Ganey.

“We want clarity that may never exist,” he said. “I am ready to make motions, but it is up to the council to approve them.”

The first motion that needs to made should be on whether the city’s current safety center will be reused as either police headquarters or a fire station, said Mayor Mary Rossing.

Discussion on the safety center is scheduled to be on the agenda for the Oct. 4 meeting.

How to deal with the city’s aging and outdated Public Safety Center, at the intersections of Hwys. 3 and 19/Fifth Street, has been contemplated by councilors for a number of years. The current center, which houses the city’s police and fire operations, is 40 years old and is within the Cannon River flood plain.

Among the decisions facing the council are what should the new safety center look like, where is should be and how much it should cost.

Councilors Betsey Buckheit and Erica Zweifel said they are hearing from residents who want the current safety center reused as either a police or fire station.

Whether or not that is possible might by out of the council’s hands, though. Because the building is within the flood plain, environmental regulations might limit what the city can do.

Estimates for renovating the current center range from $3 million to $7 million.

The current cost estimate for a new Public Safety Center is $10.7 million, most of which would be covered by municipal bonds paid for by taxpayers. The Northfield Rural Fire Association has agreed to pay $500,000, and Carleton and St. Olaf colleges have been approached to contribute to the cause.

The financial impact on taxpayers could be reduced by as much as another $1 million by using reserves in other city budgets, City Administrator Tim Madigan said. Taking money from fund balances isn’t something that’s normally done, but it is acceptable to help finance big-ticket items like a safety center or street construction.

Another way to cut construction costs would be to reduce the size of the safety center, Madigan said. The key to that option is making sure future building expansion is possible on the site where the center would be located.

“Building budgets are driven by two variables,” he said. “Either, build what we need or build it to budget.”