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The Chisago City Council devoted most of an April 8 workshop session to discussing two options for remodeling the existing Lindstrom City Offices and Community Center as a new home for the Lakes Area Police Department (LAPD). The options were part of an architectural evaluation of the city hall commissioned by the Lindstrom City Council at a cost $10,000.

The Lakes Area Police Department is governed by a Police Commission comprised of two council representatives from Lindstrom and two from Chisago City and including Police Chief Bill Schlumbohm.

Chisago City Administrator John Pechman, all members of the Chisago City Council, and Chief Schlumbohm participated in the April 8 workshop.  Council Member Mark Anderson and Schlumbohm attended remotely.

Pechman began the meeting by bringing council members up to speed on the history of the proposed joint Lakes Area Police Department facility. 

Background Information

Pechman explained, “We’ve been talking about a new joint police facility for ten-plus years. In the beginning, we toured other buildings, like the old Smith Metals building (now in use) and the old hospital/nursing home at the M Health Fairview site ”as possible options.” None were found suitable.

After eliminating existing buildings, the two cities agreed on a new police headquarters facility.  A space study was conducted and the cities selected a building site that Chisago City was willing to give to the project, next to Chisago City’s new Fire Hall,  on Karmel Avenue, which was determined to be centrally located in the police service territory.  The project was estimated to cost $8 to $9 million. 

A request was submitted to the Minnesota legislature for $3 million in funding assistance with each city to contribute $2.5 million.  

“We came together and hired a lobbyist for a couple of years and hosted multiple tours of the site with House and Senate committees,” said Pechman; however,  the bond amount has not been granted in the state bonding bill.

Pechman said that, two years ago, new members were elected to the Lindstrom City Council who wanted to take a different path. He stated, “They had some issues with budget” and were looking at limiting Lindstrom’s portion of the project to $2 million.     

Instead of building a new structure, Lindstrom members on the police commission then suggested renovating their municipal building.  (The LAPD currently occupies space on the north side of the Lindstrom City Hall. A police impound lot and satellite office are located in Chisago City.) 

In late 2024, Lindstrom commissioned the architectural firm Leo A Daly to review the original LAPD space need study and the present Lindstrom Municipal Building for possible long-term use by the Lakes Area Police Department. 

After completing their study, the Leo A Daly design team recommended two options: 

Option A, moderate investment, would require Lindstrom’s city staff to move out the present city hall to an alternate undetermined location, the cost of which is not included in the estimate. This would allow the police department to move into the current city hall space. In this option, the community center/public meeting space in the building would not be touched. While this option does not meet the police department’s full 20-year need for 13,000 sq. feet of space, it was described by the Leo A Daly architectural firm as meeting “a reasonable 8-10 year need at a moderate investment of $1.86 million to $2.4 million.” 

Option B, described as “full investment,” would involve full renovation of the entire Lindstrom municipal building, and relocating city hall and community center functions to an alternate location, yet-to-be determined. 

This option would replace all exterior windows and doors, address insulation of the perimeter, and remodel the community room to support expanded police operations. The need to replace the roof or roof insulation is not included in the estimated cost and would need to be determined. Cost of this option is estimated at $4.2 million to $4.9 million.

Garage Option:  Constructing a police garage on the existing north parking lot would cost an additional $2.55 million. The garage could be added to either option or phased in later. Due to space limitations, the garage would have only one garage door for both exit and entry instead of one garage door for entry and another for exit. 

Mayor Dresel asked the police chief to describe some of the Police Department’s needs. 

Chief Schlumbohm responded, “We need a secure perimeter that people cannot just walk into.” He said that while Lindstrom had taken some steps to divide law enforcement from city functions in the existing city building, “We don’t have that now.”  High on the chief’s priority list was a sally port. 

A sally port is defined as “...a secure entry and exit point in a police facility which typically consists of two garage doors that cannot be opened simultaneously. Sally ports are commonly used for transporting detainees safely. They help control flow of people and vehicles in and out of a building and are often monitored by surveillance cameras.” 

Schlumbohm added, “We have to insure that prisoners can’t hurt other people or themselves. Right now, in this plan, we can’t do that.”  

Schlumbohm described a facility with two separate secure entry doors, and two separated corridors, one for staff and prisoners and the other for the public and crime victims. A third priority, he said, was protecting the privacy of crime victims and members of the public who came in to report a crime. “If you have someone sexually assaulted, they shouldn’t have to be paraded past city staff or the public. This requires both a separate entrance and a separate investigatory department,” he said.

Schlumbohm said that in looking at the options, Option B “comes much closer to fulfilling those needs.”  However, he emphasized throughout the meeting that the study, as presented, was done at a “100,000-foot level” and the options would require further detailed analysis and discussion.   During the meeting he added, “My own opinion is that the Police Commission has to have some ownership in anything in the future.”

The commission will need to acquire the Lindstrom-owned building at some point if the renovation plan is pursued.  This price has not been discussed.    

Council members posed numerous questions.  Nobody spoke strongly in favor of either option A or B. 

Chisago City Council’s newest member, Nikki Battles, was not impressed by the options and initially asked if it might be possible to look at other buildings in the area that might work better. She was reminded that an extensive review of existing buildings had been done in the past.

Battles then said the option endorsed by Lindstrom, “doesn’t seem like a long-term solution.” She also wondered if Lindstrom was only budgeting $2 million what would Chisago City’s share be.

Council members Marie Rivers and Mark Anderson voiced the strongest opposition. Rivers said there were “too many unknowns,” and “It could be like a black hole, a money pit.”

Councilman Anderson, who sits on the joint police commission, announced, “I am 100 percent for (constructing) a new building. I don’t want to have the headache of ‘the roof sprung a leak,’ or ‘the furnace broke down’.”  

Mayor Dresel commented that,  “Option B (using the entire Lindstrom municipal building with the addition of a police garage) is closer to what a new building would be.” He pointed out that none of the options included the cost of construction or mechanics or potential costs of a new roof, windows and insulation.

Offering to “take a stab at a summary” of the discussion, Council member Meyer said, “We’re not really on board with Option A. Option B we could possibly be coaxed into, but Option C (building a new building as originally planned) is really where we still sit.”

Mayor Dresel described himself as “in the middle,” saying, “I think if we can work out something (with Lindstrom), I would do that.” 

He told the council: “The next step is we’re going to sit down and try to keep talking with them (Lindstrom council representatives).” 

Dresel and Schlumbohm both mentioned that at the last Police Commission meeting they’d agreed to create a subcommittee of the commission that would include both mayors, the city administrators and others to drill down into the details.

Schlumbohm added, “At some point, it would be a good idea to have both city councils meet in the same room at the same time.”

In other business, the council:

- heard City Engineer Nate Stanley of Bolton and Menk review details of the planned extension of city sewer lines 2.5 miles to the west as part of the planned Highway 8 construction project. Chisago City plans to build a lift station and force main along Highway 8. The line and major lift station will serve as a collector for lateral lines that in some cases may have their own lift stations. 

Stanley said they anticipate the Highway 8 project will go out for bids in winter 2026. Chisago City’s sewer project will be bid and constructed separately from the highway project but will require careful coordination.

Stanley described it as “an exercise in schedule coordination” with the entire project being completed over a couple of years. Stanley said they will try to take advantage of the Highway 8 construction in any way they can and will work in space on the north side of the highway between the highway at the bike trail which is part of the project.  A number of crossings of the highway and the lift station location also must be carefully planned.

Regarding costs, Stanley said that, working off a 2021 estimate and applying inflation percentages, he estimated $3.5 million to extend the sewer as of April 8.

    

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