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RC interested in Family Center building, negotiations underway |
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By Patrick Tepoorten
The Rush City Council revealed that it is interested in the school district’s Family Center property at its regular meeting on May 28, and also what it plans to do with it.
With Mick Louzek as acting mayor in Jim Ertz’s absence, the council discussed the possibility of a modified lease agreement with the Rush City School District that would deed the Family Center property to the city. The property, located on Main Street near Rush City Foods, would then become the new home of the North End Liquor Store.
A possibility of an agreement between the city and district is very tentative at this point, but here is how it would work:
The city is currently half-way through a 20-year lease with an option to buy on the property currently used as city hall. The lease is $17,744 per year with a $1 purchase price at the end of the 20 years.
In exchange for the Family Center property, which the district recently decided to vacate as a cost-saving measure, the city would agree to an increased yearly lease price at city hall of $23,736 and forego the option to buy at the end of 20 years.
City Administrator Amy Mell explained the increased lease price as an effort by the district to recoup some of the state equalization funds not received by the district when it originally remodeled the city hall/Aquatic Center in 1998.
The approximately $6,000 a year in increased lease price would amount to almost $60,000 over 10 years, and Mell believes the Family Center property has a higher value than that. She did not have the square footage of the city’s current liquor store at her fingertips, but is pretty sure it is around 1,800 square feet. The Family Center is approximately 5,000 square feet and has the added benefit of being closer to the freeway, an area the city has been itching to relocate to, but without any success with private landowners.
Louzek called the Family Center property “ideal” for the liquor store, adding he felt it was as close the store would get to the freeway at a reasonable price.
Councilor Jamie Amundson said being next to the grocery store would be convenient and that the city should “look into” it.
The council, minus Ertz and Councilor Nick Malchow, gave Mell approval to pursue an agreement with the district.
Although it may not take too long to reach an agreement with the district, the city would accept the building as-is, requiring an extensive remodeling project. Mell noted that the city has approximately $300,000 in ear-marked funds for such a project.
It is not anticipated that the on-sale portion of the city’s liquor operations would be re-opened if and when the city were to make the move.
In other news:
• An agreement between the city and engineering firm SEH was reached toward paying for the recent sanitary sewer project undertaken at the behest of resident Ben Rustad.
Rustad asked the city to help him fix the sewer at his residence, which was non-functional. It was determined that Rustad’s sewer line had been severed as part of a previous public project and never hooked up again. To date, invoices for the project total $7,935, with those for paving still to be received. Of the total cost, SEH has agreed to pay 70 percent, leaving the city with the remaining 30 percent.
• The council approved the purchase of a second-hand “jetter” to replace a failing one in public works. According to Public Works Director Ray Benolken, the city’s current jetter “gave up the ghost” in the last couple of weeks. Minus the trade-in value of the current jetter, the replacement is expected to cost $12,900.
• New voting booths will be purchased to accommodate the much larger ballots traditionally used. The five booths - four regular and one handicapped accessible - will cost $1,175.
• The city received the final costs of removing the structure on the Rademaker property, and approved paying KW Construction $1,420 contingent on leftover concrete being removed from the KW property.
• The Rush City Chamber of Commerce’s request that the city accept a small piece of property in the city parking lot - formerly a bank drive-thru - was granted. In accepting the property, the city agreed to cover any legal costs associated with the ownership switch.
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