June 5, 2007 Less smoking areas There are less smoking areas on the Stearns County government downtown campus. Staff at the County have been getting a lot of complaints the past couple years about smokers standing outside the building doors, primarily outside the front of the Administration Center. Visitors and employees said they didn’t like having to walk through the smoke to get into the building. Concerns about public image were raised as well. There were also complaints about the smoking in the picnic/lunch area on the north side of the Courthouse. Commissioners approved banning smoking in those two areas, but allowing continued smoking outside the Courts Facility building, Law Enforcement Center, below the east side steps of the Courthouse and in the enclosed area on the north side of the Administration Center. “This is a sensitive issue. The public seems to even be turning against outdoor smoking areas. This is what we think will improve the situation,” said county administrator George Rindelaub. “This is probably a good time to have this discussion with passage of the most recent state law banning all indoor smoking in public establishments,” commented Rindelaub. An e-mail was sent to all County employees asking for their feedback as to what they thought would be appropriate if changes were made. “As suspected, most of those comments were negative about smoking areas,” noted Rindelaub. “Some employees would just as soon see no smoking on this campus whatsoever. Then employees who smoke would have to wander off campus somewhere. I’m not sure that’s practical as far as getting work down around here. This is what we think is a reasonable compromise between smokers and non-smokers. The change will take effect by July 1, 2007. Tax assistance Commissioners approved Tax Increment Financing (TIF) for Cold Spring Granite. Cold Spring Granite has been in the process of gradually moving its operation from downtown Cold Spring to the west side of the city, in Wakefield Township. The final relocation phase will take place this summer. Cold Spring Granite will construct over 60,000 square feet of new manufacturing and office space at Granite West to house the remaining operations from downtown. This will cost an estimated $5 million. In cooperation with the City of Cold Spring, Cold Spring Granite will also voluntarily begin to convert their former riverfront property in downtown to make way for new business and housing developments. Redevelopment costs on these 30-acres of land, which includes demolishing existing buildings, cleaning up environmental problems and upgrading the infrastructure, are projected to be over $5 million. This redevelopment effort will be one of the largest and most challenging projects undertaken in Stearns County. Cold Spring Granite requested TIF assistance to fund approximately $500,000 of the costs associated with the construction at the Granite West site. Money saved through TIF assistance will be diverted for demolition and cleanup expenses in downtown. The Stearns County HRA requested a public hearing with the Board of Commissioners; nobody spoke at today’s public hearing before the Board voted unanimously to approve the TIF. Cold Spring Granite is one of the largest granite quarrying and fabrication operations in the world. They employ more than 900 people.
