By MaryHelen Swanson

The road construction on Forest Boulevard at 400th Street has more meaning now that there could be one occupant in North Branchís new commercial/industrial area to the west.

The large area of land purchased by the city and most recently known as the ESSBY project, (now called Prairie Parkway Industrial Park) may soon be the home of the new Chisago County Health and Human Services building.

On Wednesday, May 24, the county board unanimously directed County Administrator John Moosey to secure an agreement with the city of North Branch for the purchase of 2.2 acres near the intersection of 400th St. and Fletcher Avenue.

Moosey, who had looked at seven different sites, recommended this location for a number of reasons:

ï It will be centrally located in the county;

ï It will be located near the largest base of consumers of these services;

ï It has high speed data access (which is required for a cost effective operation);

ï It will be the first building in the countyís largest effort to enhance the commercial and industrial tax base and;

ï It is cost effective (low land costs and financing).

At the county board meeting on the 24th, Commissioner Mike Robinson asked about the Harris site, a 10-acre parcel offered by that city.

Moosey said it would have cost over $300,000 for utilities, road improvements and soil replacement for the site.

Moosey said he spent two months checking to see if that property would work.

In the final analysis, he felt that the site would cost twice as much as the NB property.

The NB site will have city streets, water and sewer when it is available for construction after September this year.

NBís offer:

The city is offering the 2-acre site at $35,000/acre. The county will be able to pay for the land over 20 years at no interest. Annual payments would be $3,750.

Assessments for the property would be $22,800/acre payable over 15 years at an estimated interest rate of 5.1 percent.

Water and sewer trunk charges, at the countyís request, will be assessed for 10 years at 3 percent interest.

The offer to the county is contingent upon approval of the city council and the cityís Economic Development Authority.

The HHS building will house about 80 workers.

It was noted that Rush City also offered land to the county at no cost for the HHS building, but high speed access to the site was too costly, according to Moosey.

Map below show location of new HHS building.