A Brookings County commissioner on Tuesday encouraged his fellow commission members who serve on a space-needs task force to incorporate a pending commission purchase into task force discussions.

In his commissioner's report at the end of Tuesday's meeting, Commissioner Dennis Falken told fellow commissioners Alan Gregg and Don Larson to address the pending purchase of the 702 and 704 Fourth St, properties during their space-needs task force meetings. The discussion at one point became contentious as Gregg accused Falken of continually criticizing Gregg's actions as a member of the task force.

The task force was started by the Brookings Economic Development Corporation and also includes city council members and other local officials .

It was formed earlier this year shortly after the commission's attempt to purchase Gas 'N Mor on Sixth Street for use as an administrative building fell through. The group's stated purpose is to provide more input on the space-needs issue the county has been wrestling with for years.

The commission is in process of finalizing a purchase agreement for the Fourth Street properties at a price of $260,000 and plans to eventually raze them to build a parking lot in what Gregg has called "a first step" for solving space needs.

Falken on Tuesday called for that pending purchase to be put on the task force's radar.

"I think if that's our intent - to purchase that property for a parking lot - it certainly would be the possible intent of us of building in the proximity of the courthouse, whether it be in the parking lot or whatever," Falken said.

He also asked Gregg and Larson why they hadn't provided more information to the commission about the options the task force is considering. Haven't heard anything

"I don't want to circumvent anything that's happening , but I really haven't heard anything coming back from the committee yet of any potential things that we could possibly be looking at," he said.

Commission Chairman Larson responded that the task force had been forwarding written reports to both the city council and county commission to update the boards on the task force's progress. (Those documents have not been made available to the Register.)

Larson told Falken that the task force discussions are separate from the commission's actions, and that the task force would discuss the purchase if and when it becomes official. "I don't want to confuse the issue of the purchase of the properties, but the public needs to understand that this purchase is not a recommendation of the committee," Larson said. "But obviously it does influence the discussion of the committee once the county has the property because it definitely becomes an option." Gregg said the task force is still looking at a number of options in the courthouse area, including the 1921 Building, and will incorporate the county purchase if it becomes official. "It's kind of like going to McDonald's and eating a Big Mac," he said. "If you take her all down at once, you're going to choke. We've got to take a little bit of a step at a time, and after we get this completed then we'll move onto the next process." Include purchase in planning

As the discussion wore on and Gregg and Falken discussed various aspects of the space needs issue, Falken continued to suggest that the pending purchase should become an integral part of the task force's plans.

"My personal thing is that we should go back and say, 'Now that we've got parking, we can pursue more on possibly building in this area or using something in this area to locate our building,'" he said.

Gregg responded with a broader comment about his role in the space needs efforts.

"Well, you know Dennis, I didn't volunteer for this committee, and I remember you said you didn't want anything to do with this project, and so that kind of eliminated down to me.

"I didn't volunteer for this. I'm just trying to do the best I can, and maybe that isn't good enough, but I'm trying to do the best I can and (it) seems like every time I turn around, the main people that are banging me on this (are) at the end of this table." What's the plan? Falken said he wasn't being critical of the decisions that had been made, and simply wanted the purchase to tie into a space needs plan. He said after his involvement in the Gas 'N Mor purchase attempt, he wanted to let other commissioners look at the issue.

"I wanted to step back and let someone else come up with some ideas," he said.

The commission has until noon July 16 to review the purchase agreement drawn up for the purchase and accept or reject it, according to Brookings County Deputy State's Attorney Mark Kratochvil.

Contact Ryan Woodard at rwoodard@brookingsregister.com.