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Benton County approves letter of support for Momentum Center's proposed women's residential aftercare
Summary
Commissioners authorized the chair to sign a county statement of need and letter of support for Momentum Center's plan to convert the Thrifty Motel into a gender-separated residential aftercare program for women; board members noted zoning is a city matter and flagged about $27,000 in delinquent taxes on the property.
Stephanie Ferguson, owner of Momentum Center, asked the board to sign a statement of need and a letter supporting conversion of the Thrifty Motel into a women's residential aftercare site serving adults with substance use disorder under Minnesota's 3.1 residential-care rules. "The Thrifty Motel would be turned into apartment-style living... the women would be cooking for themselves, maintaining their living space, attending groups," Ferguson said while describing program services and plans to keep the women's and men's programs separate.
Commissioners discussed zoning and licensing steps: city of Saint Cloud controls zoning for the property, and county involvement is limited to providing a statement of need for the state's licensing process. Human services staff confirmed that a county "statement of need for the CD program" is required for state licensure (not zoning).
The board moved to authorize the chair to sign a letter of support for Momentum Center's residential program; the motion carried. After the vote, a commissioner raised a concern that the Thrifty Motel property carried roughly $27,000 in delinquent taxes, a detail board members said staff should monitor as licensing and any purchase negotiations proceed.
The county's action was a commitment of support for the licensing process; zoning, potential city variance questions and the parcel's delinquent-tax status remain outstanding steps for Momentum Center to resolve.
