Residents, council reopen debate over police facility; council authorized outreach to county on law-enforcement center

Public concern about the proposed Kutaska police facility and the city police department’s future location dominated public comment at the May 5 International Falls City Council meeting.

Multiple residents urged the council to reconsider building or purchasing a separate Kutaska facility and to resume negotiations with the county for use of the old law-enforcement center (LEC). "If we were to go deputies ... we would be saving approximately $634,000 a year over a 10 year term," resident Sharon Ball told the council while criticizing the city’s policing budget and project costs. Eric Strand, another resident, said the Kutaska building sits in a residential area and said the project did not meet initial goals for a joint police, fire and ambulance complex.

Several speakers urged consolidation or co-location to lower costs for a community with a declining tax base. Reynold Calder, a resident who requested the police budget, said the community "cannot add additional debt to our strapped financial situation." Steve Blair, who identified a recent Star Tribune story on the issue, said he was concerned by a past council motion that approved a contractor for the Kutaska building "without any dollar amount." Several commenters urged the council to prioritize the water-treatment plant and ambulance financing over a new police building.

Councilors responded by opening discussion about whether the county board would negotiate. Councillor Wagner proposed a motion to have city administration draft a new letter to the county to reopen discussions on the old LEC. Councillor Holden seconded the motion. The motion passed with council support; the council directed administration to draft the letter subject to review and return it for approval at a future meeting. Mayor Bridal said he supports the police department but noted he would not accept some past approaches without clearer financials.

Councilors and commenters repeatedly asked that the police chief be included in future discussions to clarify operational needs and whether a smaller footprint would suffice. Several residents suggested a ten-year county lease offer under discussion could be substantially cheaper than city debt service on a new facility.

Ending — The council authorized staff to draft a new county outreach letter to reopen negotiations on the old law-enforcement center. The city will present a draft letter for council review at a future meeting and include the police chief in follow-up discussions.