BROOKINGS A new public safety facility in Brookings could wind up being built on city-owned park land, but theres no guarantee thats going to happen.
The option to do so, though, was simplified when South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden signed Senate Bill 97 into law on March 3. The legislation, whose prime sponsor was District 7 state Sen. Tim Reed, R-Brookings, enables a towns governing body to change the official use of city-owned park land via a vote on an ordinance as long as the new use remains for public purposes. Before, such a change required an automatic public vote.
The genesis of the bill came about while working with Brookings city officials on the possibility of using park land for the new public safety building, Reed told the Brookings Register. The ordinance process would be transparent and allow for public input. Special notices would have to be published in the local newspaper, there would be two readings of the ordinance in a public meeting, and if passed by the governing body the public could still refer it to a public vote.
The city has been looking for sites to build on for over a year, but so far nothing concrete has been announced. The current police station at 307 Third Ave., which also houses Fire Station No. 1, has been in use for decades.
City Manager Paul Briseno confirmed to the Register that, while the city is considering using some park land for new police and fire spots, it hasnt set its heart on any site in particular.
(Its) up in the air, he said. Weve gone, this is our third time going back to the drawing board to find land. Weve tried to work with some community partners and some community partners that are always willing to listen. Weve looked at private land as well.
You know that old saying about location, location, location? Well, thats a factor here, too.
There is some park land that is strategically located to have a great response for not only fire but also police throughout the community, Briseno pointed out. So were looking at all park land for all options and opportunities, knowing that weve already paid for this land with taxpayer dollars. It would really help to utilize fully this land.
He said people and groups who use any affected park land wont be left out in the cold.
Now, that doesnt mean that well displace any user groups. Well always make sure that user groups are made whole, and that were always providing good, quality services to everyone. Its just really maximizing land, Briseno said.
All that said, the option to use city-owned park land would be just one, and presented alongside other options as well, including the aforementioned purchase of private land.
If the latter comes to pass, it could add nearly $500,000 to the cost of the public safety facility project, which is estimated at $17 million. On top of that, the big number itself needs changing since it was provided, Briseno said, roughly 18 months ago by the citys consultant and doesnt include land acquisition or other potential unforeseen costs.
Given inflation and changes in construction costs, this estimate will need to be updated, he said, noting that the city currently has $15 million to $16 million set aside for the new public safety facility.
That said, he noted theres another dollars-and-cents fact to consider if park land becomes an option, and thats the cost of removing infrastructure whether its playground equipment or some other type of facility.
We want to make sure that were balancing all of that as we make those decisions, Briseno said. Its really more or less just giving us another option to be as fiscally prudent as possible with the tax dollars.
If city-owned park land is eventually used for policing and fire protection efforts, the city certainly has a lot of it on hand more so than most communities its size.
Briseno said the National Recreation and Park Association reccomends 10 acres of park land per 1,000 people as the standard, with the ideal being 15 acres of park land per 1,000 people.
That puts a town of Brookings size, we should have technically 240 acres to 360 acres, he said. We have somewhere close to 750 acres that we maintain. We are overextended with need for manpower and there are opportunities, knowing that we provide more than enough park spaces, to utilize some of that existing land for either infrastructure, facilities, or partnerships with places like the schools.
While there are plenty of acres of park land in Brookings, not all of it is equal. Some of those acres have land and water grant money tied to them that restricts alternative uses, so much so that even Reeds SB 97 cant circumvent them and the city is well aware of that.
Its all a balancing act. We know and understand all of the restrictions on all of our park land, and so we dissect each and every desire (and) opportunity with whats available and then understanding the restrictions, but also the user groups and the needs for the parks, he said.
He noted that the citys Park Master Plan road map has really helped the city articulate and understand where the parks should be located, which parks are underutilized and how land can be capitalized on to possibly provide further benefit to the public.
Fire station
In addition to a new public safety facility, theres also the fact that a new home is also necessary for Fire Station No. 1, which shares the current building with the Brookings Police Department.
It, too, wouldnt be cheap, with Briseno ballparking the price at between $4 million and $5 million, which the city has yet to put aside.
While dedicated funding for this project has not yet been established, it remains a priority, and we plan to allocate future savings toward it, he said.
The firefighting equipment based at the station includes heavy vehicles such as tanker trucks. The facilitys floor, however, wasnt built to withstand that kind of modern weight load for an extended period of time, Briseno said. Then theres the basement beneath the floor, which further complicates the matter.
Wherever it winds up landing, a redeveloped Fire Station No. 1 has to remain in proximity to the citys downtown, Briseno said. As such, he said there are options close to the existing site as well as park land thats in proximity to the existing site.
Not only are we weighing because we have to be close to the downtown but can we strategically locate it a block or two off to make sure that were also addressing the needs for the most western part of the community as well as were growing that way, Briseno said.
Public input
Briseno noted that its essential to have a public discussion regarding options for land for not only a new public safety facility, but also a relocated Fire Station No. 1.
That all needs to take place before we really get serious at having a location identified for the (City) Council and the public, he said.
Itll likely be spring or summer before that happens, Briseno said, adding that the city is considering all options for land both private and public.
I hope sometime this spring to have a public discussion with sites identified so we can hear the public, their concerns, and make sure were addressing any concerns or ideas, he said. Once again, sometimes we have good ideas that come from the public on where we can locate these facilities and so its imperative that we do have that conversation.
Contact Mondell Keck at [email protected].
Leave a Reply