BROOKINGS – The Brookings City Council approved the sale of eight acres of land to the Brookings Economic Development Corporation and OK’ed moving ahead with renovations to the Bob Shelden Athletic Complex, during its Tuesday meeting.
Land sale
The land sold to BEDC is in the Freeland Addition, north of the Highway 14 bypass. The eight acres are located on the east side of 32nd Avenue, directly north of Millborn Seeds.
The price is $65,340 per acre for a total of $522,720, according to an attachment to the agenda.
City Manager Paul Briseno explained the conditions of the sale.
“Brookings Economic Development Corporation is working with a developer to purchase the property,” he said.
The developer will provide stormwater improvements onsite or will participate in a stormwater study analysis of the entire area and financially contribute toward the development of a regional system based on the study.
After the vote, Mayor Keith Corbett thanked everyone for their work on the project and “your investment in Brookings. We really appreciate it. It’s exciting.”
Al Heuton, executive director of the BEDC, declined to name the developer after the meeting. He said the BEDC still had some development to do on the project, but he was expecting a signed contract with the developer in mid- to late February.
Shelden field
The council approved proceeding with the bidding process and construction for the Bob Shelden Athletic Complex renovation project.
Dusty Rodiek, director of Brookings Parks, Recreation & Forestry, said the project was essentially the same as presented to the council during the work session before Christmas and “we are basically focusing on the priority areas in the project: field lighting, spectator experience, parking area and playing field.”
“The total estimated construction cost is around $2.8 million,” said Erick Rangel, chief financial officer for the city, and the staff is recommending the money come from the 2019 bond proceeds.
“The estimated construction schedule is around from April to November (2020),” Rangel said.
“This is great news; as long as we’ve waited for this to happen,” Corbett said.
During a first reading to authorize drawing $2.8 million from the 2019 bond to cover the costs for Shelden field, Councilor Ope Niemeyer asked how much will be left of the $7.1 million bond.
The renovations for Larson Ice Arena were on budget, so the city spent $3.7 million on that, Rangel said.
They were estimating $3.4 million for Shelden, and are now estimating using $3.1 million, leaving the rest for contingency or other infrastructure projects, Rangel said.
The second reading and public hearing on the ordinance authorizing supplemental appropriation No. 1 to the 2020 budget are Jan. 28.
Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.
