WILLMAR -- An agreement to buy two acres of land for a 16-bed psychiatric hospital in Willmar was approved Wednesday by the governing board of the Kandiyohi County and City of Willmar Economic Development Commission.
The land purchase, for $394,000, was recommended last week by the EDC's operating board.
It was finalized by the governing board on a 4-1 vote. Richard Falk cast the single vote against the purchase; Denis Anderson, Ron Christianson, Harlan Madsen and Dennis Peterson voted in favor.
The behavioral hospital, to be built at the corner of Seventh Street and Willmar Avenue Southeast, will replace psychiatric beds that are being lost with the closure of Willmar Regional Treatment Center.
In a first for the Economic Development Commission, the EDC has agreed to finance and own the facility and allow it to be operated by the Minnesota Department of Human Services through a lease with Kandiyohi County.
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Officials hope to start construction within the next couple of months. The schedule calls for the hospital to open some time next summer.
The site remains a sticking point, however, as underscored by Falk's vote against the purchase agreement for the Seventh Street location.
Of some 20 sites that were considered, it is the costliest. It also is the one preferred by the Minnesota Department of Human Services, which operates nine similar psychiatric hospitals elsewhere in the state.
Falk, a member of the Kandiyohi County Board of Commissioners, reiterated Wednesday that at least two other sites, both owned by the state, were available for less money.
"I'm not really peachy keen on this, especially when land is available free," he said of the Seventh Street site.
If the consensus is that it's the best location for the facility, "my first choice would be condemnation," he said.
Similar concerns were raised last week by Willmar City Councilman Jim Dokken, who appeared before the EDC operating board to discuss the price of the land and the selection criteria.
Other governing board members conceded Wednesday that the preferred site is more expensive, but they said it appeared to best meet the state's needs.
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"I don't want to overspend taxpayer dollars," said Denis Anderson, chairman of the governing board. "I understand that. But I think we have to provide our customer with the site they want."
The EDC staff also recommended that the board go along with the state's choice.
"In government we're frequently told to act like a business. I view the state of Minnesota as a customer in this regard," said Steve Renquist, executive director of the Economic Development Commission.
Madsen also argued in favor of the site from a human standpoint.
Both the state-owned sites were on the north edge of Willmar and would have isolated the facility, he said. "It almost said to me, 'We want to keep you farther away.' We've got to send a message that as a person we want you here. We value you and we need to move ahead."
Milan Schmiesing, chairman of the operating board, said the board considered the state's preference in deciding last week to recommend the land purchase.
The cost can be recouped in the lease payments the state will be making, he said.
"I think what we need to wrestle with is: Are we willing to accept the risk inherent in this transaction?" he said.
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A lease hasn't been negotiated yet with the state, but preliminary talks suggest that the agreement will be for 15 years to start with.
The EDC governing board also decided Wednesday to add several contingencies to the land purchase agreement -- namely for the successful signing of a lease with the state and the completion of acceptable soil borings.
The board voted as well to hire Braun Intertec to conduct soil borings at the site. The hiring of a firm to survey the site was turned over to Renquist, who was authorized to obtain quotes from all the local survey firms and hire the one with the lowest price.
