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Mendota council directs consultants to study converting former jail site into park; motion passes 3-1
Summary
Council member Lee moved and the council approved 3-1 a directive for consultants to consider making the Mendota jail property a city park; council clarified this is a designation, not a rezoning, and planners will fold the study into park planning work.
The Mendota City Council voted 3-1 on Aug. 12 to direct consultants to consider converting the city's former jail property into a park, a move Council member Lee described as a first step in evaluating future park options.
Council member Lee made the motion to direct consultants to "potentially consider making the Mendota jail property a new city park." Council member Donnelly seconded the motion; the council recorded the vote as 3-1. Council members clarified the action designates the site for study and does not rezone the property as a park.
City Planner Jennifer Haskamp told the council staff had been working on a park survey that received about 25–30 responses (27 cited in the meeting). Haskamp said staff plans to close the survey later in the week, compile feedback for the planning commission meeting on Aug. 27, 2025, and present draft concepts at a September picnic event for additional comment. She noted a master plan can be updated and that park dedication fees from future development may be insufficient to cover a full master-plan buildout; staff will present a draft budget and funding recommendations to council in a later meeting.
Council member Lee also described local pothole concerns, MnDOT traffic-study timing (Mayor Mielke said MnDOT will not restudy the roadway speed until about 2036) and a Friends of the Jail fundraiser that netted about $210 after covering shirt costs, with roughly $325 in extra donations. Those remarks framed part of the council's broader discussion about future uses for the jail site.
Next steps: staff will incorporate the jail-site study into the planning commission's work and the forthcoming master plan and return with funding recommendations and draft concepts.
