Request fails to move forward with constructing storage building

Masaki Ova, The Jamestown Sun, N.D.
·2 min read

Aug. 11—JAMESTOWN — A request to move forward with constructing a heated 150-by-60-foot storage building for the Stutsman County Sheriff's Office failed for the second time in two months on during a special meeting of the Stutsman County Commission.

Roll call votes were not taken on the request because the motion to move forward with the project did not get a second from another county commissioner. County Commissioner Ramone Gumke was not present at the meeting.

County Commissioner Steve Cichos asked Stutsman County Sheriff Chad Kaiser what kind of timeline the Sheriff's Office has to keep storing its equipment in the North Dakota National Guard's maintenance shop. The Sheriff's Office rents a portion of the shop.

Kaiser said the Sheriff's Office is currently storing three pieces of equipment at the National Guard shop and multiple units at other locations in Jamestown. He didn't say how many units were at the other locations so the general public doesn't know what the Sheriff's Office.

"This fall I'm sure they are going to want a couple pieces out unless I can work something out with them again," he said.

He said the Sheriff's Office rents one bay from the National Guard shop, which is owned by the city of Jamestown.

Kaiser said the risk of not approving the bid, which expired Aug. 5, was that the cost to construct the storage building will keep escalating.

The proposed new storage building would have cost more than $1.2 million to construct if the county commission moved forward on the bid. The storage building would have been built using American Rescue Plan Act funds.

If a building is constructed using "once-in-a-lifetime" ARPA funds, it needs to be one that can be used every day by Stutsman County employees, County Commissioner Joan Morris said. She did not clarify what type of building can be built that can be used every day by county cmployees.

Kaiser said the new multi-use storage building would also be used by the county's park department as much as the Sheriff's Office. He also said Morris is talking about a different type of building that will be more expensive than a heated storage building.

"I understand that, but yet, at the same point in time, I would like to see this money put toward a building that has a little bit more use," Morris said.

Kaiser said a counteroffer by Stutsman County to purchase the Ringdahl EMS building with a triple net lease with the seller was declined.

The original asking price of the building was $850,000 and Stutsman County offered $815,000 to purchase the building. A counteroffer by Ringdahl of $835,000 was made that included the seller, Ringdahl Inc., leasing back the main floor, upper level and about half of the shop area for two years.