As the year end closes in, the city of Rushford Economic Development Authority (EDA) made plans to update the council on conceptual options for the former Farmers Win Coop site. Planned for the November 24 council meeting, the EDA will review concepts and possible next steps. A community meeting is tentatively slated for December 3 at the Rushford-Peterson High School forum room. Councilors Sally Ryman and Leigh Volkman, both who also serve on the EDA, clarified a few items at the October 27 council meeting. A portion of potential concept plans and renderings will not be presented to the public for fear of confusion and that citizens will assume the city is taking on all of the plans. Instead, there will be modifications to simple base plans and hopefully, improved 3D renderings of how the site could look.
Before any next steps can happen, Volkman stressed that there are tasks the city should do to get the space in order. This includes confirming and straightening up property lines behind businesses on West Jessie Street downtown. The city will also need to decide if the former office building on Elm Street should be sold. Lastly, the one-way street, running between Elm Street and South Mill Street will need to be removed, along with concrete barriers along the Root River State Trail, which runs parallel to it. Ryman also cautioned the city on moving forward with any plans before possible grant opportunities for either demolition or development can be identified, as it may exclude the city from qualifying for grants.
Another issue that the EDA is being cautious with is the need for more workforce housing. While many have pointed at the space noting housing potential, the space is limited and may not be able to offer what’s needed.
Ahead of the community meeting, the EDA will be working with the consultants already involved to set up a new scope of work and timeline for the project. A governance board of interested citizens will need to be formed as well.
“The most important part is we have to find some people that are excited about it. If that doesn’t happen, it’s going to die,” said Volkman. “Our past administrator was concerned about getting something for the council to approve. But, I’m not so sure that anything is far enough to approve. We’re not actually making any decisions. We’re presenting to the public in the same manner we presented the last one. So, then we hear where the squealing comes from and we see if it has support or not.”
The EDA has received a request to explore a new housing study. The city last did one in 2015 and Fillmore County did its own in 2019. However, there was concern about doing another, when action for addressing housing wasn’t implemented following the last two.
The biggest hindrance to addressing the needs is costs. According to Volkman, citizens are expecting to build based on numbers in the 2015 study, when those numbers are not realistic in today’s market. Another key problem, noted by Ryman, is that many believe the city will financially take on building housing and adding infrastructure, when that, too, is not feasible. Additional issues preventing the available spaces in the city from selling include lot sizes, lack of infrastructure on some sites, and property owners with land available who simply don’t wish to sell.
Mayor Terri Benson noted, “People see a large space or what they think is a large space and they want housing. Is that really where you want housing or do you want it in a neighborhood?”
“There’s some contradiction there that there’s not actually land available in town,” stated Volkman. “There actually is a fair amount of space in the city of Rushford.”
The EDA is working on determining what land is available and what needs the properties have, but the city is currently on target for two to three new homes a year.
In other news, the council is continuing consideration of transferring the land where the historic depot sits from the historical society to the city. The cost of insurance coverage for museums has skyrocketed and most municipalities now cover such places on their policies. The historical society has worked diligently to secure grants and funding to rehabilitate the building, which also serves as the city’s visitor’s center, and would like to be able to utilize their budget for continued maintenance of the various sites and their operation.
The historical society will discuss some of the council’s concerns, including length of time of coverage, whether or not the society would be willing to contribute a portion, and exactly what kind of coverage and how much is actually needed, not only for the site itself, but to cover the current construction contract and grant requirements for insurance.
The council did approve an EDA recommendation to reduce the amount of interest paid on an EDA loan to Loken’s Inn to complete the loan payoff amount, due to added costs associated with the October 10 sale of the property to Green Terrace Realty, LLC. The EDA will also request a copy of the environmental study done as part of the sale to keep on file.
Codification of city ordinances is also wrapping up. The council will need to make final reviews before it can be completed. The deadline for the project is December 29.
A request has been made to adjust the city’s off-year elections, converting to the regular cycle. While Rushford is the only city in the county with off-year elections, it isn’t the only one in the state to do so. Fillmore County is looking at cost savings, and adjusting the cycle is one possible area of savings. A representative from the county will discuss the matter with the council at the November 10 meeting.
The November 4 Rushford ballot is for the mayoral seat and two council seats. Volkman is the only candidate on the ballot for mayor, but three candidates are running for the council seats. They include current Councilor Andrew Linder, plus Nick Smith and Judi Pronk.
Leave a Reply