Colfax Village Board passes on possibility of purchasing 619 Main for village use
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — The Colfax Village Board has taken a pass on the possibility of purchasing 619 Main Street, the former Dental Wellness Clinic, to use as the location for the police department or village offices.
Dr. Larry Phillips, who has retired from his profession as a dentist, spoke to the Colfax Village Board during the public comments portion of the July 10 meeting, saying the building has been for sale for two years.
The property is listed with Edina Realty, Jason Huebner, realtor, for $129,900.
Huebner also attended the meeting.
The Colfax Plan Commission, at a meeting held June 29, recommended that the property be kept zoned for business use and not be zoned for residential, said Jeff Prince, village president.
In addition to the consideration for a rezone, 619 Main Street was on the agenda as a discussion item with possible consideration.
Colfax Police Chief William Anderson said he had asked for 619 Main Street to be on the agenda because he believed it would be in the village’s best interest to purchase the property.
Over the years, other buildings have come up for sale in the downtown area that the village did not buy for a municipal use, he said.
The village has looked into expanding the village hall or finding another location for the police department, “but that never went anywhere,” he said.
The village is slowly growing, and the police department and village offices will have to move at some point, Police Chief Anderson said.
If the village purchased 619 Main Street, the police department could move to that location, the village clerk and deputy clerk could move to the police department, and the current village offices could be used as a conference room and for the library to use for programming, he said.
Police department items that are stored in cold storage at the Department of Public Works building could be moved to the new police department location, freeing up space for the public works employees, Police Chief Anderson said.
“We will have to expand somewhere,” he said.
On Main Street
If the village purchased 619 Main Street, the village offices would still be on Main Street, said Margaret Burcham, village trustee.
At one time, the village board had considered moving the village’s offices and the police department to the Department of Public Works building on Railroad Avenue.
The village has spent about $1 million on the DPW building for the purchase and on remodeling, with the intention of moving the village offices and the police department, although that never occurred.
The Colfax Rescue Squad moved to the DPW building about 10 years ago
A previous village clerk-treasurer and the current village administrator have objected to moving off Main Street because they have said it is important for the village’s offices to remain on Main Street and to maintain a presence downtown.
Years ago, the village board considered buying the former bank building on the corner of Main Street and East River Street to use for village offices. At that time, the building was listed for sale at $35,000. The village board ultimately decided not to purchase the building.
Nearly 25 years ago, a space needs study completed by Short, Elliott and Hendrickson (SEH) concluded the library needed more room, although 25 years later, the library is still in the same 1,200 square-foot space as when the library started in 1917. Construction on the municipal building began in 1915 and was completed in 1916.
In spite of other space needs studies that have indicated the village clerk’s office and the police department also need more space, those offices are still in the same place that they have been for decades as well.
The Colfax Police Department at one time served as the village’s fire station.
Police Chief Anderson said he has been trying to have the issue of purchasing 619 Main Street put on the agenda for quite a while.
Comp plan
According to the village’s Smart Growth Comprehensive Plan (2014-2034), the village hall space, which includes the clerk’s office, is 610 square feet.
“The boardroom space is limited, making it difficult to seat members of the public and the press. In addition, all members of the village board are not able to face the public during meetings.
The board room contains a wall of cabinets which limits the seating area for the public. The boardroom is also used for elections. There are no restrooms or a break room in the village hall. The restrooms on the first floor are shared by the village hall, police department, library and the public. A recent inspection of the village hall showed inadequate space for a person in a wheelchair,” according to the comprehensive plan.
The plan goes on to say, “There is a need for additional office space, storage, a work room and board room space in the village hall. Possible restrooms and a break room for the village staff are also desired.”
The Colfax Village Board’s meeting space can accommodate about six members of the public. If there are more people than that, they end up standing and may even stand out in the hall.
In some other municipalities, inadequate meeting space has been challenged as a violation of the Open Meetings law because the space could not accommodate members of the public who wished to attend.
Police dept.
The comprehensive plan also states that the police department is approximately 780 square feet.
Future needs for the police department include a secured interview room, a police garage, a large evidence storage area, a patrol room, a large conference room/training room and a restroom with a shower for decontamination purposes, according to the comprehensive plan.
The police department currently has an office space, a small multipurpose space and a small evidence storage room.
There is no secured interview room, no conference room, no restroom with a shower, and the evidence storage space is inadequate.
The building at 619 Main Street, according to the real estate listing, is 1,564 square feet — twice as large as the existing police department’s office — or 2.6 times larger than the existing village offices and meeting room.
The comprehensive plan also addresses inadequate space for the library and notes that the Indianhead Federated Library System estimates that the Colfax library needs 10,000 to 12,000 square feet, which is considerably larger than the current 1,200 square feet.
Readers should note that the space needs assessment in the comprehensive plan concluding there is inadequate space for the village offices, the police department and the library is already nearly 10 years old.
At one time, the village’s website had a link to the comprehensive plan, and the plan can still be located by conducting a Google search.
Tax roll
“It is not necessarily a bad idea,” said Gary Stene, village trustee, in reference to the village purchasing 619 Main Street.
The village’s experience with the East View residential development is that “how we want things” is very different from “how things are,” he said.
Architects drew up great plans for East View, but for the planning, the village should have been talking to developers, he said.
“It’s not what you want, but what goes,” Stene said.
If the village buys 619 Main Street, then it goes off the tax roll, he said.
The village board is in no position to consider whether to table the issue of purchasing 619 Main Street in fairness to Dr. Phillips, Stene said.
The village board must put more thought into a long-term plan, and then on how to finance it, he said.
The village’s comprehensive plan includes the following recommendation: “Create and maintain a formal 5-year Capital Improvement Plan to prioritize road, public building, and utility projects to anticipate costs and possible grant funding opportunities.”
While the village board has planned for street and utility projects, the village board has not taken any steps toward long-term planning for public buildings in spite of the recommendations for public buildings that have resulted from space needs studies and the comprehensive plan.
Unprecedented
Commercial properties have far less opportunities to sell, while sale opportunities for residential properties are unprecedented, Huebner said.
If 619 Main was zoned residential, it would have sold 20 times over in the time it has been on the market, he said.
Dunn County is recommending that the property be surveyed to find out exactly what access is available behind the building, Prince said.
There are numerous places in Colfax where the lot lines are off, Stene noted.
The village board will have to say yes or no quickly, and before making a decision, the village’s financial advisors should look at the village’s debt ratio, Niggemann said, adding that the village has other projects to finance and that have been financed.
The village needs a five-year financial outlook to “see if we can make it happen,” she said.
If the village board tells Dr. Phillips that the village may want to purchase his building, he might pass on a possible sale, Niggemann said.
State law sets the debt limit for a municipality at 5 percent of the equalized value.
Survey
The potential purchaser would bring in a business with five employees, and there would need to be room to park vehicles, so the issue of what space in the back is part of the property must be cleared up, Huebner said.
The seller must have it surveyed to find out what is actually available in the back, Niggemann said.
Dunn County has reviewed the map, and it appears there is access, but that must be confirmed, she said.
If there is a potential buyer for commercial, and if the buyer backs out, then it could come back to the village board for a rezone to residential, said Carey Davis, village trustee.
If the property was zoned for two-family residential, then four parking stalls would be needed, Niggemann said.
One family could possibly have four cars: one each for mom and dad, and two children in high school or older who each have their own cars, said Anne Jenson, village trustee.
Residential 3 allows a business and an accompanying residence, which would be an antiques shop or windshield repair, Huebner noted.
Other uses would be allowed as a conditional use, Niggemann said.
Whether it is zoned residential or business, the property will have to be surveyed so it can have a clean title, Stene said.
The Colfax Village Board approved a motion to not rezone 619 Main from B-2 to R-3.
Jenson said it “would have been nice” to have the proposal for the village to purchase 619 Main Street months ago.
Niggemann said she had been telling the police chief “to put something in writing” to get the issue on the agenda.
Police Chief Anderson said he had been trying for a year to get 619 Main on the village board’s agenda.
The village board did not discuss whether the board should ask for a financial analysis on the feasibility of purchasing 619 Main Street.
Other business
In other business, the Colfax Village Board:
• Approved bartender operator’s licenses for Tori Wilson (Synergy Cooperative), Emily Rubenzer (The Blind Tiger), Andrew Anderson (Blind Tiger), Elizabeth Affolter (Blind Tiger), Bridgette Lenz (A Little Slice of Italy), Michael Buchner (Colfax Firefighters) and Lisa Kurbanov (Synergy).
• Approved transient merchant licenses for Linus Jobs (Eau Claire) and Kirby Vacuums from July 2023 to September 2023.
• Approved a donation request for Zor Tin Lizzies in the amount of $100 with virtually no discussion, in spite of saying at a meeting last October when the Colfax Woman’s Club asked for a donation to support Music in the Park that the village board did not want to make donations to outside groups because then every group would ask the village for donations. Previous requests for the Zor Tin Lizzies to participate in the Colfax Firefighters Ball Parade in September have been for $50 and $75.
• Approved rezoning Lots 8 and 9 in the East View development from Agriculture 1 to Residential 2 and rezoning Lots 10, 11 and 12 from Agriculture 1 to Residential 6.
• Approved a subdivision of if Lots 10 and 11 in East View to Lots 10, 11 and 12.