Council approves donation agreement
By Steve Van Kooten
The property designated to 705 East Taylor Street, formerly home to Prairie du Chien Memorial Hospital, has sat vacant since the hospital was taken down in 2015. Now it’s a slate of grass in a grid of residential neighborhoods, churches and the local high school. But that open patch may be the site of the Public Safety Building according to a donation agreement between Crossing Rivers Health (CRH) and the City of Prairie du Chien (PDC).
On Jan. 24 the Public Safety Committee and Common Council both met to review the donation agreement drafted by lawyers representing the city and CRH. The agreement defined conditions, deadlines and other nuances to transfer the possession of the parcel from CRH to the City.
In attendance for the Public Safety Committee meeting were Charlie Connell, Committee Chair, and voting members Vicki Waller, Nick Gilberts and Doug Moris. Non-voting members Chad Abram, City Administrator; Tad Beutin, Prairie du Chien Fire Department’s Fire Chief; and Kyle Teynor, Police Chief, were also present along with Nate Gilberts, City Planner, and Lara Czajkowski Higgins, former City Attorney. A member of the Polodna Family attended the meeting.
In attendance for the Common Council meeting were Nate Bremmer, Kelssi Ziegler, Kayla Ingham, Nick Crary, Pam Kiesau and Waller. Abram, Nate Gilberts, Mayor David Hemmer, Higgins, Teynor and Beutin were also in attendance for the meeting. Jaaren Riebe was absent.
At the Committee meeting Higgins characterized the agreement as a donation with obligations to fulfill.
PDC had several due diligences outlined in the agreement: the city would be responsible to restore the land to its condition prior to any investigations made on the property, examine the property’s title to determine the parcel’s viability for the Public Safety Center, conduct a survey of the area as required and perform proper re-zoning for the project as needed. If the property was determined to be insufficient for the Public Safety Building project, the agreement would become void and the land would remain in Crossing Rivers’ possession.
If there were issues with the property, such as results of an environmental study, that made the sight unusable for the project, both sides could let the agreement lapse.
The agreement outlined a closing date of July 1, 2024. At that time the property would transfer possession to the city through a special warranty deed. The extended period of time between signing and closing would allow the city to perform its due diligences.
“There wasn’t really any issues of contention. It was just setting up a structure for the donation to occur. We don’t want to take possession of the property if it is not appropriate nor does the hospital want to donate the property if we’re not going to use it,” Higgins said. She stated the donation could close earlier than July 1 if the conditions of the agreement were completed.
The agreement also included a one year extension contingent on Crossing Rivers’ discretion. The extension can be used if the project is not completed by Dec. 31, 2026, which would push the deadline to Dec. 31, 2027.
“As long as we’re making progress to that goal, the hospital could use that,” Higgins said. She then stated if the project had not been completed by the extended deadline, the property could revert back to Crossing Rivers’ possession.
Higgins said the property had a restriction placed on it by the Polodna Family that allowed it for “hospital use.”
“Because of the large amount of time that has lapsed,” she said, “there is a statutory provision that would allow the title company to insure over that.” Higgins said Knight Barry Title United, LLC, the title company for the transaction, was “comfortable” with the circumstances around the age of the restriction.
The agreement also stipulated PDC and CRH would work cooperatively to establish a Recognition Committee to explore proper representation for both Crossing Rivers and the Polodna Family’s donations.
The agreement identified four members for the committee: Chris Brophy, Crossing Rivers Health CEO; Sasha Dull, Crossing Rivers Chief Development Officer; Teynor and Beutin. Other spots on the committee could be filled by discretion of the committee’s designated members.
Abram stated work on re-zoning the property and the survey were in the works. He also said zoning would be done through a Planned Community Development, a process the city had used before with Prairie Bluff. Planning for an environmental study had also been initiated.
In the agreement an American Land Title Association (ALTA) Land Title Survey was part of the city’s responsibilities as well. An ALTA survey incorporates surveys of boundaries, topography, structures, improvements and easements among other factors on a designated piece of property.
“So when does that happen?” Connell asked. “After the agreement is signed?”
“I think they could certainly start working on that as soon as the agreement is signed,” Higgins answered. “It would make sense for us [the city] to do our preliminary due diligence.”
“The main thing is we wanted access to the property to do some things. The Request for Proposal (RFP) is going to have an address now they [architects] can look up on Google Maps and see the location,” Abram added.
Abram also outlined a timeline for the RFP process, which would have requests placed on Jan. 29 and due on Feb. 16 for presentation to the committee at the next meeting on Feb. 20.
“It would be nice for the committee to make formal approval for requests for architects and designs for the safety center,” Abram concluded.
The Public Safety Committee approved the donation agreement with CRH pending Common Council approval and then approved the request for proposals for architects and designs.
That same evening the Common Council approved the donation agreement as presented.
Other Business
-Abram noted the Council officially had a vacancy. Carlos Cantero, Jr., Fourth District Alderperson, was not present for the meeting.
-Higgins acknowledged she would no longer act as the City Attorney. The position will now be filled by Amanda Tisdale.
-The next Public Safety Center Committee meeting is scheduled for Feb. 20.
