Northfield City Council Stalls on Safety Center

After Tuesday night’s discussion, the only thing safe about Northfield’s planned Public Safety Center is the second word in its name.

Following several public commenters opposing it, councilors voted 5-2 against financing the plan by Capital Improvement Plan bonds. Majority members said opposition from residents over a lack of specifics in the plan—a site has not been selected—and the plan’s price tag could spur a reverse referendum against the $10.9 million proposal.

But the dissatisfaction with the project’s lack of specifics soon gave way to fundamental questions of the project, with councilors asking for sites closer to downtown as well as the design of the facility.

 The council takes up those issues at a work session later this month.

Councilor Patrick Ganey challenged the center’s plan, which would combine a part-time firefighting staff with the police department under one roof. He suggested that the current safety center, which sits on Fifth Street on the west bank of the Cannon River, could be renovated and supplemented by a building for the fire department.

Mayor Mary Rossing responded that the direction from the previous council, which, citing cost and energy savings, approved a combined building last November, had already been established.

Public Safety Directory Mark Taylor, the project’s leader and spokesman, voiced frustration over potentially returning to the basics of the project. He said the center has been in planning for three years and that the need to replace the current center—built nearly 40 years ago—was “dire.”

While all commenters voiced approval for the renovation or construction of a new site, many questioned the project’s price tag and challenged councilors to drop the sum by several million dollars, comparing the effort to a similar project in New Prague.

New Prague's project, however, was a fire and ambulance station, which cost about $4.1 million. Northfield's project is for a combined spaced for police and fire, and is projected to cost $10.7 million. Of that sum, about $4.8 is designated for fire station costs, according to city projections. Northfield's total also includes purchasing land.

Northfield, which spans about seven square miles, has 19,482 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2005-09 American Community Survey. New Prague’s population is estimated at 6,407; the city is approximately 2.5 miles. 

Editor's note: This story was updated to better clarify the comparison between Northfield and New Prague's projects.