Council: Schools can pay for half of officer

Also, A.L. City Council OKs Artspace survey

Staff

Published Tuesday, June 10, 2008

The Albert Lea City Council voted Monday to implement a contract with the Albert Lea School District that would require the district to pay for a portion of the salary and benefits for school resource officers.

Under the contract, the city will pay 100 percent of the salary and benefits for one of the two officers provided in the district.

And the district will share in the cost to pay 50 percent of the salary for the other officer for the 2008-09 school year and then 50 percent of the salary and benefits for the days worked during each year afterward.

Previously, the salaries and benefits were paid through a COPS In School federal grant or solely through city funds. COPS stands for community-oriented policing services.

Ken Petersen, chairman of the Albert Lea school board, said though he understands that many entities are having problems with their budgets right now, he hopes the council realizes that when the school district has to pay for a position such as one of these officers, this cuts money it can use in other areas.

He said he knows school resource officers are an important part of providing a safe environment, and at times it gets difficult to draw the line between what should be a city cost versus what should be a school district cost.

Councilor John Severtson asked Petersen whether the school district has ever considered asking Freeborn County to help supply a resource officer since the district covers more than just the city of Albert Lea.

Petersen said the district had not.

One school resource officer is at Albert Lea High School and the other is at Southwest Middle School. The middle school officer also covers the elementary schools.

In other action, the council:

- Approved a request from the developers of the Wedgewood Cove golfing community to burn excess brush being cleared during the construction of the development.

Under the approval, the developers are required to work with the Albert Lea Fire Department to make sure the ban occurs during appropriate weather conditions and is sufficiently supervised.

Developer Paul Field said the burning would be done on the southwest corner of the property, which is about a mile away from United Methodist Church.

Freeborn County is the official entity to issue a burn permit after the city’s review of the project.

Under the request, Green Lea Golf Course will be allowed the same approval.

- Authorized the Artspace Projects Inc. artist market survey, which is the next step toward creating artist living space in the area.

The survey, which costs $25,000, will determine whether there is sufficient interest from artists to move to Albert Lea to live and work.

After the city sent out an invitation for other local entities to pursue a partnership with the city in funding the survey, the Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce agreed to pitch in a $1,000 contribution for the survey, the Albert Lea Economic Development Agency agreed to a $5,000 donation and the Freeborn County commissioners agreed to a $5,000 contribution through its designated Housing Redevelopment Authority funds.

HRA Executive Director Jon Ford will also working to obtain $5,000 in grants for the project.

The decision from the council comes after representatives from Artspace came to Albert Lea last month, toured four downtown buildings with city leaders, met with members of the local art community and conducted a public forum to inform area residents of their mission.

The representatives formed a report based on their visit, including their responses to the project concept, the market analysis, the site analysis, the financial analysis and local leadership.

At the conclusion of their visit, they indicated they were interested in conducting the survey to see if there is a market for artists in the region.

If there is enough interest, the project would be conducted in the Freeborn National Bank and Jacobson Apartment buildings.

Artspace — a nationally known, nonprofit organization dedicated to creating affordable, loft-like studios where artists can live as well as work — began in 1979 in response to the decline of Minneapolis’ historic Warehouse District in the ’70s.

Since, it has become the national leader in the field of developing affordable space for artists through adaptive reuse of old warehouses, schools and commercial buildings.

Together with the cities it chooses to work with, it purchases and renovates buildings and then leases them back to artists at below-market rates.

- Awarded the winning bid and contract for the mill, overlay, curb replacement and sidewalk replacement on several state aid streets to Ulland Bros. of Albert Lea.

The project includes Hawthorne Street from Lakewood Avenue to Garfield Avenue, Lakewood Avenue from Richway Drive to North Shore Avenue, Lakeview Boulevard from Fountain Street to Vine Avenue, and Third Street from Madison Avenue to Newton Avenue.

Two bids were received for the project, ranging from about $336,000 to about $386,000. Ulland Bros. submitted the low bid.

Project costs were estimated at about $451,000.

- Awarded the winning bid and contract for improvements on West Ninth Street and Wedgewood Road, including the installation of sanitary sewer, storm water and water main, as well as bituminous roadway, to Sorensen Bros. of Albert Lea.

Seven bids were received for the project, ranging from about $565,000 to about $681,000.

Sorensen Bros. submitted the low bid.

Costs were estimated at about $648,000.

- Awarded the winning bid and contract for the first and last portions of the airport improvement project to Sorensen Bros. of Albert Lea.

The first portion includes the grading of the future end of the runway and grading the relocation of Plaza Street, as well as wetland mitigation and construction.

The second portion includes constructing a bridge on the relocated Plaza Street, and the last portion includes paving Plaza Street.

Because the federal funds for the second portion were not available this year, the bridge will be constructed at a later time.

Severtson said though this is not exactly the way the project was originally intended to go, this will be a great start to the project.

Six bids were received for the three phases of the project, ranging from about $1.7 million to about $2.1 million.

Sorensen Bros. submitted the low bid.

Federal funds for the second phase are anticipated to be available in 2009.

- Awarded the winning bid and contract for the demolition of two properties in the 100-year floodplain — a house on 313 College Street and the former Moose Club building — to Jensen Excavating and Trucking in Clarks Grove.

Four bids were received for the project, ranging from about $43,000 to about $50,000, with the low bid coming from Jensen Excavating & Trucking.

Costs were estimated at $70,000.

Now that the last of the properties along the flood plain is being removed, the city will work with the Shell Rock River Watershed District to create a series of rain gardens and paths for a park in that area, City Manager Victoria Simonsen said.

That portion of the project should be completed before the end of the summer, she said.

- Amended the 2008 fee schedule to include a permit fee for an establishment such as a dance hall.

The permit fee will be $2,000.

Along with this change, the council also approved a fee increase for individual public dances from $160 to $200 per event to cover the cost of additional law enforcement being present.

The $15 fee for public dances that do not charge an admission fee will be eliminated.

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