A Rice Lake City Council special meeting to review a study on the future of the Public Safety Building, which jointly houses the city's Fire and Police departments, has been canceled and will not be held Thursday as previously scheduled.
Mayor Justin Fonfara canceled Thursday's meeting as it appeared a quorum of City Council members would not be present. It is possible the Public Safety Building feasibility report will be presented on April 23 instead.
The city is taking under consideration either renovating the current Public Safety Building at 34 Wilson Ave., or building new at one of the following sites: Tate Park at 40 Ann St., Northwood Technical College on West South Street, CenturyLink Building at 1825 Pioneer Ave., Johnson Truck Bodies at 215 E. Allen St., Burger King at 1130 S. Main St.
These sites were chosen for study on May 9, and SEH, the city’s civil engineering firm, will be presenting its list of pros and cons after concluding its eight-month study. The final report was written after receiving comments, questions and feedback from City Council members after they received a draft at their Jan. 9 regular meeting.
City staff proposes the council choose one of two sites — Northwood Technical College or Tate Park.
Northwood Technical College
Northwood Technical College’s Vice President of Academic Affairs Aleisha Crowe has made a case for building near the educational institution as it seeks to build in the future a Public Safety Education Center to provide firefighting, law enforcement and EMS training, among others.
There is a possibility to obtain "joint" grant funding for the Public Safety Building and future Tech College training facilities, the land has room for growth, and construction costs could come in lower than other locations. On the downside, the city would need to enter into a long-term lease agreement because of the Tech College’s land ownership policy.
Tate Park
Tate Park, located in the center of the city, had the best response times, but it is currently home to two ball fields that were built with the help of state Department of Natural Resources funds.
The ball fields and amenities such as the concession stand would need to be relocated first, adding to the project’s price tag, plus the DNR would need to study the relocation proposal.
Price tag
The cost for building a new Public Safety Building could come as high as $30 million, depending on the chosen site and other factors. The City Council has touched upon holding a nonbinding referendum, but one is not under consideration at this time.
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