Photo by Ryan Howard
Construction crews are almost done with the Forest Lake City Center, but when residents will get to see the building in an open house setting is up in the air after a recent City Council vote.
By the time the city of Forest Lake holds an open house for its new city center, no council member who voted to build the structure will still be office. That’s thanks to a vote at the City Council’s Nov. 10 meeting, one of the first votes of the council after the newly elected Richard Weber took over for former member Molly Bonnett.
The motion to change the grand opening date was made by Councilman Ben Winnick after a presentation by Assistant City Administrator Dan Undem. Undem said the substantial completion date of the city center is currently on track for the last week of November and that staff had set a tentative date for the opening house at Dec. 2. The council asked a few questions and made some clarifications about a center plaque and other opening house details, and Mayor Chris Johnson asked the council members if they had any other questions or remarks.
“I’ve got one more,” Winnick said. “I want to delay that till Jan. 2 or sometime in January.”
Johnson asked why.
“Just because I want to,” Winnick responded.
City Administrator Aaron Parrish told the council that the open house date was certainly flexible, but he added that city staff planned to move into the building over the next few days following Dec. 2. After the move, he said, it was unlikely that residents would be able to see some parts of the building on the tours, including law enforcement-related areas like the police evidence room or the detention area. The open house was originally scheduled before the move-in so that residents could see the building in its entirety.
“It’s not an insignificant piece, and as I’ve toured people through the building, it seems to be a piece people enjoy seeing,” Parrish said of the detention center and evidence room.
After some additional discussion, Winnick indicated he would still like to change the date. Johnson raised his hands and said, “Whatever, I don’t care, as long as we get in as planned.” In the final vote to delay the vote to January, no one voted against the motion.
After the meeting, Johnson told the Times that he later thought that he should have voted against the motion. However, he said he saw the “writing on the wall” that the vote would have at least three in favor.
“I think it was a mistake to do it,” he said. “I think it’s been in the works for the long time and I think the public should get a chance to see it.”
Though Winnick didn’t speak further on why he wanted to change the date during the meeting, he commented more on his reasoning later.
“It’s been something I feel divided this community … between the city government and its citizens, and I don’t really feel it’s something we need to celebrate,” he said.
He remarked that moving the open house date back would prevent Johnson and Susan Young, the remaining council members, from taking credit for a project that will set taxpayers back millions.
“It’s a time to acknowledge that this isn’t going to happen on their watch,” he said.
Weber told the Times that he did not know about the motion before the meeting, saying that he voted in favor of the move so that those who would be on the council moving forward would have more of a participatory role in the proceedings. He added that he wants to make decisions for the good of the city, not act as a new swing vote on controversial topics.
“I didn’t come with a prior agenda; I came with what my principles were,” he said.
Freer thought that Weber and Winnick both made valid points for voting to change the date, but he said the grand opening date doesn’t matter very much to him compared to the concern of residents getting unfettered access to the center before the city moves in. He planned to talk with staff about organizing tours before the city move-in.
“To me it doesn’t make a difference if (the grand opening) is in December, January or June of next year,” he said. “The residents are paying for the building; they should be able to see the entire building.”
Councilwoman Susan Young said she doesn’t mind not being on the council during the open house, noting that she didn’t support the city center to gain personal recognition. Like Freer, she wanted to make sure that residents can tour the entire structure.
She added that moving the open house to a date after the city’s conservative election sweep has taken full effect was surprising to her.
“I was so taken aback that the same people who had sued to stop the city center now wanted to claim it for their own,” she said.