City of Northfield, Minnesota, U.S.A.

Summary of the Taskforce Work and Results

On January 26, 2009, the City Council authorized a Public Safety Center Taskforce to “research, analyze data and define facility space needs, building location, and financing and ultimately make a report clearly defining public safety needs to the City Council.”

On February 2, 2009, the Council appointed eleven members to the Taskforce, including Council members Kris Vohs and Jon Denison, Police Chief Mark Taylor, Fire Chief Gerry Franek, and citizens Greg Colby, Fred Rogers, Jerry Anderson, Ray Cox, David Hvistendahl, Janelle Teppen, and Andy Yurek.

The Taskforce met eight times, toured police and fire department facilities in surrounding communities, and held open houses in the current Safety Center to invite public comment. The Taskforce also carefully reviewed 13 potential sites on which a new Public Safety Center might be constructed.

After thorough review of Northfield’s current and projected public safety needs, the conditions of the existing facility and the potential for renovation and expansion, and the suitability and availability of sites for a new Public Safety Center, the Taskforce made a recommendation to the City Council on June 22, 2009. That recommendation included the following:

1. That the city construct a new, combined Public Safety Center of 47,500 square feet;
2. That the city consider two sites for a new Public Safety Center:
   1. The “Valley Co-Op” site located on South Highway 3, and
   2. The “Cowles Property” site located on Riverview Drive.

The Taskforce further recommended that the City conduct a detailed review of the flood protection issues affecting the current Safety Center site, as a necessary step relating to consideration of possible reuse of this site as a “gateway” to the City; and

3. That the City consider two financing options:
   1. Voter approval through a referendum of the sale of $10.4 million in General Obligation Bonds; or
   2. City Council approval of the sale of $10.4 million in Capital Improvement Bonds, subject to a reverse referendum.

Meeting agendas and minutes for all Taskforce meetings are available in the list of Files on the right side of this page. All files are posted as PDF files (requires Adobe Acrobat).

The “Final Taskforce Recommendation” includes the full packet of information presented to the City Council at its June 22, 2009 meeting, as well as a summary of the Council’s charge to the Taskforce, the guiding principles through which it conducted its work, and a detailed description of the scope of the new facilities required. The background materials included in the recommendation packet also describes the sites the Taskforce considered and eventually eliminated, the detailed space requirements of the police and fire departments, and a preliminary project budget.

Subsequent to the Taskforce recommendation, the City Council requested an engineering review of the flood mitigation requirements involved in a renovation of the current Safety Center. The report, prepared by Art Kalmes, URS Corporation, is included in the PDF packet for the Council work session on August 31, 2009. In that report, Mr. Kalmes details four scenarios for addressing floodplain issues, all of which would require approval by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Mr. Kalmes concludes that it is likely an acceptable floodplain mitigation plan can be developed, but at widely variable costs and with widely disparate levels of utility in reusing the existing building.