Lakeville details progress, delays on First Center and plans for new fire station on 12‑acre Fisher site

City staff provided the Lakeville City Council a progress update on two major public safety projects at the June 23 work session: the First Center, a multi‑agency training and operations site that is recruiting municipal members, and a proposed new fire station that staff plan to locate on the 12‑acre Fisher property in northeast Grand B.

The presentation said staff finalized membership flyers in May and sent them in early June; three cities — Apple Valley, Farmington and Northfield — had responded with interest. Staff described two membership tiers and an a la carte option for cities or individual departments that do not join as full members. Farmington expressed tentative interest in prepaying a 10‑year membership using state public‑safety funding it has available, the presentation said.

Why it matters: city staff said membership revenue and any prepaid commitments would affect cash flow and the First Center’s operating model. The council previously directed staff to pursue the Fisher property for the fire station; locating and funding both the First Center and the fire station will affect capital and staffing decisions across departments.

Staff summarized construction and schedule status for the First Center. Construction began in May and included a stormwater basin reaching Cedar Avenue and demolition of an older public works building. During demolition crews discovered seven buried fuel tanks (one had a small leak of about five gallons of diesel that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency subsequently addressed) and asbestos‑wrapped ventilation piping. Contractors and environmental consultants tested and, according to staff, remediated affected soil and materials. Staff said those activities, plus testing and disposal, cost the project roughly 30 calendar days but that the construction manager (RJM) expects the team can still meet the original timeframe by using built‑in schedule cushions.

Staff also reported buried demolition debris of mixed construction materials, some tires and old appliances; they showed photos that included a 1973 Ski‑Doo found in the fill. The presentation said foundation excavation for the new warehouse portion encountered pockets of debris that required testing and removal; WSB and Braun were identified as on‑site testing consultants.

On programming and equipment, the city said the police department is evaluating a multi‑screen virtual‑reality training system, and staff will advertise for a movable interior wall system that can be reconfigured for different scenarios and pumped with smoke for fire and police training. The facility’s second floor will include a fire department confidence course and dormitory/living quarters; staff plan to model operations and personnel duties on the city’s existing HERO center and expect to include a site manager position in the 2026 budget.

Fire station planning: staff presented very preliminary schematic sketches from CNH Architects for a combined headquarters and fire station. The designs show a two‑story section for administrative space and a higher‑bay area with a second‑story training and hose tower above apparatus bays. Staff described living quarters, a kitchenette and workout room for on‑duty personnel, a decontamination area at bay level and mechanical space. Staff cautioned the sketches were conceptual only and not final.

Site planning and access remain open questions. The council previously directed staff to move forward with purchasing the Fisher property, described by staff as a roughly 12‑acre parcel in the northeast corner of Grand B; a tentative closing was scheduled for the Friday following the meeting. Consultants HKG/HKGI, Black & Veatch and CNH were retained for site planning and water‑treatment siting. Staff said they are considering placing a satellite water‑treatment facility on the southern portion of the parcel near the water tower and preserving the western half of the site for a potentially marketable parcel in the future.

A central unresolved issue is vehicle access on 170 Ninth Street: staff described westbound and eastbound lanes at different elevations with a sloped median and said the city planned a meeting with Dakota County to explore feasible access designs and turning lanes. Staff said they would explore alternative access from Grand B if 170 Ninth Street proves unsafe for apparatus egress.

Procurement and schedule: the city issued a request for qualifications for construction managers for the fire station; staff said about five firms were likely to submit and that hiring a construction manager early would help refine cost estimates. Staff expected to bid the fire‑station project late in the year with construction in spring and operational readiness by 2027, subject to design, access and permitting. For the First Center, staff said they expect the facility to be operational by mid‑2026 and were working on membership agreements using a boiler‑plate template developed with city legal and administration staff.

Costs, grants and funding: staff displayed two proposed federal appropriation figures submitted by different members of Congress but said the numbers represent competing submissions for an aggregate award; staff described the federal funding as routed through multiple offices and said the final award would be a single consolidated amount if approved. Staff did not provide a firm total budget or clarified final funding sources in the presentation.

Questions from council members covered interest from other departments, whether fire departments were more likely to rent than join, timeline questions (staff reiterated a target beyond June 2026 for the First Center), site access feasibility and environmental cleanup verification; staff said preliminary testing results indicated the discovered tanks and buried debris were mitigated and that remediation reports were under review.

Ending note: staff asked council if there were any other questions; no final council vote on either the First Center membership agreements or the fire‑station final design occurred during the work session. The meeting proceeded to an emergency‑preparedness tabletop exercise after the presentation.