by Logan Gruber
operations@thenewsleaders.com
At the June 15 St. Joseph City Council meeting, though there was some opposition to the “how” of purchasing Colts Academy for use as a community center, the city council did choose to approve the purchase agreement with St. Cloud School District 742. The city has 45 days – from June 15 – to inspect the school and finalize everything.
St. Joseph City Administrator Judy Weyrens said the city won’t have quite as much gym time as they originally wanted during 2015, but the district will work with them on it. The city is also still working out the details of the lease for Little Saints Academy, a day-care center which sits on roughly 22 percent of the floor space of Colts.
District 742 has done some things, like removing asbestos from the building, but it has not done any work on the roof, which is concerning to some.
Council member Bob Loso wanted to see an inspection of the building done to ensure all asbestos had been removed and look for other possible issues. After a discussion with staff, it was decided an inspection would be done before the next council meeting, and the information would be presented to the council at that time.
Mayor Rick Schultz said the council plans to do a walk-through of Colts within the 45 days and would like to host an open house for the community at the building sometime in July.
The council did choose to use tax abatement to purchase Colts, meaning taxes on 13 properties in town, totaling $134,000/year, will be used to pay for Colts during approximately the next 15-20 years. Those taxes would normally go to the general fund, but instead half-cent sales-tax money would be used to fill the gap in the general fund. This would use up about half of the half-cent sales-tax per year for the years it would be active.
Resident Jim Graeve said he was happy the council moved forward on the purchase, even though he and others found the funding of it confusing. Graeve said many people have been waiting 20 years for a community center and are glad it’s finally being done.
Regular city council meetings are held at 6 p.m. the first and third Mondays of the month in the council chambers at city hall, 25 College Ave. N. These meetings are open to the public, and a public hearing for any topic a citizen might want to speak about before the council is held near the beginning of every meeting. The meetings are also broadcast live on the city’s cable access channel on Charter at channel 181 and on Midcontinent at channel 10. Agendas and meeting minutes may be viewed at city hall, or online at cityofstjoseph.com.
Colts Academy’s purchase was finalized on June 15 by the city, paving the way for it to be used as a community center. The city is also considering the future of city hall and the police department, and the land surrounding Colts may be part of the planning process.
