by Dave DeMars
news@thenewsleaders.com
One of the major items of business at the Sauk Rapids City Council meeting on Aug. 22 was a presentation by Murray Mack, president of HMA Architects, about a proposed field house building that is sometimes referred to as the Storm House.
Present plans call for the building to be sited on property to the north of the Sauk Rapids-Rice High School just beyond the present parking area used by the faculty in the back of the school. The building would be accessible to the school for its use. It would be a community building for community use built by the city using half-cent sales-tax funds but maintained and run by the school district.
Mack presented two basic plans with variations that would reduce costs. The first proposal, referred to as Option A, features a stand-alone building with four basketball courts and a running track encircling the four basketball courts. The field house would be connected to the high school by means of an enclosed passageway. Community access is on the west side of the building and has parking for about 150 vehicles. Total size of the building was about 56,000 square feet, including storage and locker-room areas.
Option A-1 features the same standalone building in the same location but without the walking track. That would reduce the size of the building to about 35,000 square feet. Parking would be the same as Option A.
Option B features a building attached directly to the north side of the high school. It is 56,000 square foot with the same layout as Option A. Parking would be to the north of the building with some parking to the west. Its advantage is it eliminates the access passageway since the building would be adjacent to the high-school. It could possibly allow for some expanded spectator viewing area in the pool area and perhaps some expansion in the weight room.
Option B-1 is basically the same as option A-1, with four basketball courts but without the walking track. The difference being B-1 is attached to the school in the same way as Option B.
Mack went through some preliminary cost estimates. Options A and B, both about 56,000 square feet, would cost about $9.8 million or about $176 per square foot. Options A-1 and B-1 are estimated to cost about $6.9 million or about $123 per square foot. Some additional cost savings might be realized depending on the types of building materials used.
Maintenance costs on the building are estimated to be about $1.8 million over a 10- to 25-year period.
One cost that was not immediately noted was the passageways for Options A and B. Those are separate cost items and estimated to be between $1.5 and $2 million.
City Administrator Ross Olson informed the council there had been some talks with representatives of the school district. The talks were cordial but the exact working relationship between the district and the city had not been finalized.
Council member Kurt Hunstiger suggested a meeting with school officials might be a good starting point to determine how committed the district is to having a field house and what the council/school district relationship might look like during the building process. Other members agreed and the meeting moved on to other business.
Swearing in
Mayor Brad Gunderson and Police Chief Perry Beise shared the duties of swearing in two Sauk Rapids police officers, Benjamin Behrendt and Jacob Galvin. Beise explained Behrendt and Galvin were the two officers selected from a field of 30 candidates.
Public hearings
The council was very busy at its meeting conducting five public hearings in regard to five pieces of property. In the first open meeting, the city was concerned with rezoning a property from Residential 3 to Residential 1. The issue came to the council’s attention because a resident wanted to operate a home-based business from her home, which is allowed in Residential 1 zoning but not in Residential 3 zoning. Development Director Todd Schultz recommended the zoning be changed as it would be more in keeping with the development in the area. Council approved the rezoning change unanimously.
In the second open hearing, the council considered the adoption of an ordinance related to temporary family health-care dwellings. This would allow for addition of a temporary room to be added to an already existing dwelling for the purpose of caring for a sick family member for a short period of time. The council could either opt in or out of the law that was adopted by the state. The council unanimously chose to opt out of adopting the temporary family health-care dwelling.
In the third public hearing, the council considered again a request of El Rosario Inc. to vacate a portion of an alley, allowing for the expansion of Manea’s Meats. El Rosario Inc. is the legal business name under which Manea’s Meats operates. Community Development Director Todd Schultz informed the council this was a repeat of the same vacation request the council had earlier approved. The reason for the repeat was to ensure all aspects of a legal hearing had been followed and there could be no challenge to the process at a later date. The council unanimously approved the vacation request again.
In the fourth public hearing, Schultz presented a request for a Planned-Unit Development that would allow for a 57-unit apartment complex on property zoned commercial. The property is located next to the new Sauk Rapids bridge across Benton Drive opposite Walgreens. The building would be built by Torborg Builders. Schultz said the city had been trying to market the property since the completion of the bridge and this is an excellent opportunity to develop the area. Currently, the property is a public parking lot. Schultz said the building would be 12 spaces short of the required number for this type of development, but said he felt it was not a reason to deny the request since the building was in a commercially-zoned area. There was no public comment, and the council unanimously approved the PUD for the apartment complex.
In the final public hearing, the council approved vacation of public drainage and utility easements in the downtown area in order to accommodate the construction of the 57-unit apartment complex by Torborg Builders. Again there was no public comment and the council unanimously approved the vacation request.
In consent agenda actions the council:
● approved of disposing of old city property via I.R.A.Y. auction services in Foley
● approved sending newly promoted police sergeant to Leadership Academy
● authorized modification to the liquor ordinance as it pertains to special events
● approved a change order to the Eighth Avenue S. and Ninth Avenue S. improvement project.
Under regular agenda items, the council approved the conveyance of property to the Housing Redevelopment Authority for Torborg Builders so the 57-unit apartment complex might be built.
The council also received a briefing by Police Chief Perry Beise on action taken to deal with crime problems reported by the Second Avenue N. Citizens Group during the Aug. 8 council meeting at locations on Second Avenue N. Beise reported extra patrols had been mounted, and increased vigilance by neighbors has had a positive result. Thefts in that neighborhood have dropped off.
