Fire Station Litigation Over, Construction Start Expected Soon

The litigation over the proposed new Roseville fire station is over.

The Minnesota Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to hear the petition brought against the (RGR), a citizen group that opposed the funding mechanism used by the City to purchase the bonds, officials said Wednesday in the latest weekly Roseville city update. "That means the City can begin work as soon as bids are awarded."

The city it expects construction to begin in about a month.

“The City hopes to begin construction as soon as possible,” said Fire Chief Timothy O’Neill. “The delays have cost us time and money, and we are so glad to have this behind us.”

The following is the city's news release:

"In 2010, the City Council authorized a citizen committee to research Roseville’s fire stations, fire response and operations and to make recommendations on ways to improve services. The citizen committee recommended demolishing Fire Station #1 and building a new fire station.

At the same time, the Parks and Recreation Department was working with a citizen driven Master Plan Renewal Program. The citizen committee recommended repairing and replacing aging park playground equipment, pathways and other amenities.

In November 2011, the City Council authorized the City to use its Port Authority powers to issue $10 million worth of bonds to implement the recommendations of the community and to fund construction of a new fire station and to repair and replace park amenities.

RGR filed suit in District Court arguing that the project be subject to a referendum. When the District Court sided with the City, RGR then appealed to the Minnesota Court of Appeals and ultimately to the Minnesota Supreme Court.
 
“Many people in the community have been working hard for several years to get this implemented, and many others have been supportive along the way. I am especially pleased that the community will, at last, benefit from these important infrastructure improvements,” said Roseville Mayor Dan Roe.
 
“I am sure that today we have some happy firefighters and parks and recreation folks who can finally see their much needed and long delayed fire station and park rehabilitation projects get started,” Roe added.

On his Facebook page today (Wednesday), Roe said, "It was a great day for responsible governance in Roseville yesterday when the Minnesota Supreme Court ended the litigation against the bonding for our badly needed new fire station and park rehabilitation projects!"

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