BROOKINGS Residents in Brookings will head to the voting booth on Jan. 30 to support or oppose a land-sale agreement regarding city-owned property known as the Brookings Marketplace.
The decision came at Tuesday nights Brookings City Council meeting after City Clerk Bonnie Foster affirmed that a petition seeking a public referendum contained more than enough valid signatures 1,056 to be precise, well above the 651 threshold.
In a phone call with the Brookings Register on Wednesday, Foster said the special election will cost approximately $25,000, and that the price includes considerations such a workers, supplies, ballots and equipment rental from Brookings County. She noted that efforts are already underway to obtain three voting center locations in Brookings.
The City Council also gave the green light Tuesday night on a 7-0 vote to hold a public study session on Jan. 16. The intent is to provide attendees with how did we get here-type information, along with other details, about the Brookings Marketplace. The session will take place in the Brookings City & County Government Center, 520 Third St.
As for the petition, it began circulating after a 7-0 vote by the City Council at its Nov. 14 meeting to allow Minneapolis-based Ryan Companies to reduce the amount of Brookings Marketplace land it wanted to buy for development purposes from 18.53 acres to 10 acres at a price of $1.40 per square foot. The amended sale totaled $609,840, whereas the original was in the ballpark of $1,130,000.
The amendment, formally presented in Resolution 23-100, came after a prospective anchor store tenant backed out of the project. The move was just the latest development in a years-long effort involving multiple developers to bring the Brookings Marketplace to fruition.
Concerns have centered on whether or not the city should sell its land at a higher price, something thats closer to what some parties believe is its true market value.
In an earlier story in the Register, City Manager Paul Briseno said the sale would bring in retail development possibly including a national-chain grocery store which in turn would generate sales tax revenue that could be used for streets, firefighting and law enforcement purposes, among other things.
Contact Mondell Keck at [email protected].
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