(Spirit Lake)—Voters in the city of Spirit Lake will head to the polls in March to vote on a new bond proposal for a new city hall.
With no discussion, the city council voted unanimously last (Tues.) evening to put the 1.35 million dollar measure on the ballot for a special election to be held on March 5th.
The proposal calls for the existing city hall to be demolished with a new one being built in its place. The new project has been scaled back and revised somewhat from the first proposal, which failed to get the support of voters.
In other business, the council approved the first reading of a proposed ordinance pertaining to the operation of ATV’s and off road vehicles on city streets; and they heard a request from Jason Harrington, President and CEO of Lakes Regional Healthcare, for a re-routing of a portion of Zenith Avenue in conjunction with the hospital’s construction project…(Click here for comment.) “We think there’s a benefit both to the hospital and city of realigning Zenith as part of this project. And since it’s part of a larger project, it can be added on to some additional construction that’s already going on, that we think if there’s an openness on the city’s part to one, realigning, and two, to do some cost sharing as part of that realignment, we think that that can be mutually beneficial to both of us. Again, as I said, I think rough estimates vary between about $250,000 and $400,000 of total cost. We have to sit down and make sure that everybody’s clear on a line item by line item basis what belongs to the hospital and what would be the city’s responsibility.”
Harrington says the realigned street would make it safer for the hospital’s pedestrian traffic and would address safety concerns with what is currently a three-way intersection.
The council directed city staff to continue to meet with hospital officials to come up with additional plans and cost estimates.
Harrington says the realigned street would make it safer for the hospital’s pedestrian traffic and would also address safety concerns with what is currently a three-way intersection. The council directed city staff to continue meeting with hospital officials to come up with additional plans and cost estimates.
