| Anoka vying for new vets clinic |
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| Wednesday, 23 September 2009 | |
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Union Editor Anoka has been added to the list of cities in the north metro hoping to be home to a new veteran’s clinic. Elk River and Ramsey have both been previously reported for their interest in hosting the Department of Veteran’s Affairs new community outpatient clinic. The VA is looking for a site in the north metro to serve vets who currently travel to St. Cloud or Minneapolis for services. According to Community Development Director Bob Kirchner, the project includes office space of 20,000 square feet on one or two floors with about 100 parking stalls. Kirchner said the city was approached by Ryan Companies, a Minnesota-based developer searching for potential sites to develop for a landlord/tenant relationship with the VA. The result was the identification of three sites in Anoka and a fourth in Coon Rapids that have been submitted to the VA for consideration. “This would be a taxable property with the clinic as a tenant,” Kirchner explained to the Anoka City Council on Monday. JoAnna Hicks of Ryan Companies told the Anoka County Union the developer is not commenting on the proposals at this time. Already a letter of support from Anoka Mayor Phil Rice was included with Ryan Companies’ proposal. Council agreed to add its unanimous support for locating the clinic in Anoka. “Hopefully we’ll hear back that we made the cut on one or two of those sites,” said Kirchner about the VA’s review process of the submissions. Councilmember Steve Schmidt said he couldn’t imagine a better location than Anoka for the new clinic. He also voiced concern that a lot of attention has already been given to the communities of Elk River and Ramsey, also vying for the site. Last month the Anoka County Board officially lent its support to the Ramsey location, while Sixth District Congresswoman Michele Bachmann has held meetings in Elk River, making her preference for a Sherburne County location known. “It should still be a horse race because we have so much to offer,” said Schmidt. Councilmember Jeff Weaver said the council will also be asking for the support of the Anoka County Board, and suggested sending a letter to Rep. Bachmann as well. The Anoka sites also have the support of the city’s Economic Development Commission, which adopted a formal resolution at its Sept. 10 meeting, encouraging the VA to located the clinic in the city. Two of the sites being proposed by Ryan Companies are currently owned by the city of Anoka – one near the Northstar Commuter Rail Station at the northeast corner of Fourth Avenue and Johnson Street and the other in the Historic Rum River District. This second piece of property was slated to be part of the Rottlund Homes development at the southeast corner of Second Avenue and Van Buren Street, where the model trailers sit today. Kirchner said Rottlund agrees with this site being offered as a potential clinic location. The third site is property currently owned by Hoffman, that is for sale, at Sixth Avenue and Johnson Street. The fourth is located in Coon Rapids. It is privately owned and located along Coon Rapids Boulevard, Hicks did confirm. The deadline for proposals was Sept. 15, but according to Kirchner it is not known when the VA will make a decision. City Manager Tim Cruikshank noted that while it might seem like Anoka is joining the race late, the request for proposals only came out on Sept. 1. “While it seems the search process has been out there... there was never anything written in stone in terms of boundaries,” said Cruikshank. He told the council it wasn’t until two weeks before the Sept. 15 deadline that the city was aware of the critical information required to make a submission. Kirchner also noted that West Main Shopping Center owner Heidi Brownlee also submitted a proposal to the VA to have this project located on her property on West Main Street. Mandy Moran Froemming is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it |
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