Pioneer Press
BAYPORT, Minn. — Bayport is hoping the Minnesota Legislature will approve giving it land to build a new fire station.
A bill authorizing the transfer of land from the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater to the city was introduced this week by Rep. Kathy Lohmer, R-Lake Elmo, and Sen. Karin Housley, R-St. Mary’s Point. The bill is to be heard by the Environment and Natural Resources Policy Committee at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
The city would like to build the station at the northeast corner of Stagecoach Trail and Fifth Avenue; the vacant 4-acre site once was part of the prison farm.
City officials asked the state to declare the land surplus. No state agency or the University of Minnesota claimed interest in it; neither did Washington County or the Stillwater school district.
The bill would make the city exempt from the requirement to pay fair market value, or $200,000, for the land, said City Administrator Logan Martin.
The city has had a good partnership with the prison for 100 years, Martin said. “The location of the station on the grounds of the prison will ... greatly increase our opportunity to serve them better, and will provide opportunities for them to use the building if needed.”
Housley said the location makes sense for a new fire station.
“It is centrally located to all the municipalities that the Bayport Fire Department serves,” she said. “And I can’t think of anyone else who would want land adjacent to a prison. It’s a win/win.”
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