292 Design Group hired by Watertown City Council to design the ice complex

The 292 Design Group will design Watertown's new ice facility.

That was decided by the Watertown City Council during its Monday meeting. The company is based in the Twin Cities.

Matt Roby, city attorney, noted that the services contract includes a 5.5% fee of the cost of the building and site improvements. This will include the cost of any alternate options designed, regardless of whether the city accepts them.

Councilmember Glen Vilhauer had concerns about the increasing cost of construction and the fees attached to the ice arena project.

Two ninety-two "is an outstanding company, and their record speaks for itself. I know we are getting a very good rate at the 5.5%. But as projected construction costs continue to escalate, we have to be cognitive of our overall costs,” he said.

Mayor Ried Holien acknowledged that COVID-19, supply chain issues and the rising construction costs are causing havoc for communities across the country. But, he said, 292 is a great company.

“Watertown is benefiting at least in some capacity by hiring possibly the top architect in ice arenas. So there are some positives to this, and we should focus on that,” Holien said.

The council also approved an amendment of the purchase agreement with J&J Land Sales that reflects an updated ice facility site layout.

The original purchase agreement indicated that lots one through seven were to be developed by J&J for the ice facility. Roby indicated that other development companies have come forward in hopes of constructing their own projects within the development site, including the potential of a hotel.

To make room for these additional developments, lots two through eight will become the building site of the ice arena. No other aspect of the purchase agreement was changed.

Non-emergency dispatch contract with Grant County, Milbank approved

The council approved a one-year contract with Grant County and Milbank for $24,000 to provide non-emergency police, fire and medical dispatching.

This is a new kind of contract, as it handles non-emergency calls. There is already an Enhanced 911 contract in place. The new contract will help manage 911 calls that require a responder, but aren't emergencies.

“If you dial 911, we are providing that as part of the E-911 contract. A non-emergency 911, like if you slide into a parked car. It is not an emergency, but needs to be routed to a dispatching center,” said Troy VanDusen, 911 communications manager.

VanDusen said the new will be a service provided for 24-hours, seven days a week. And although it will require additional call volume through the dispatch center, it will not cost the city any additional money. In fact, it can generate revenue and is routing surcharges that are paid by counties to help absorb the costs.

“It will help take us down the road to branching out additional revenue in terms of nonemergency dispatching,” said VanDusen.

Liquor licenses renewals and violations

The council heard from several retail businesses seeking to renew their liquor licenses for 2022.

Dakota Butcher-Watertown; BMG Inc., which does business as Johnny Ringo’s; and 4 Amigos LLC, which does business as Cowboy Corner Stores; had violation in the past year. The council had expressed a desire to meet with a representative from each of the businesses to discuss the violations prior to possible approval.

Dakota Butcher had an underage sales violation. Owner Karen Gruenwald apologized to the council for the incident and explained that her store was in the process of updating its point-of-sale process to help prevent such an incident from happening again.

Johnny Ringo’s had a violation for serving alcohol after hours. Brad Maynard represented his company. He said that the incident occurred at 2:02 a.m., and that there was a daytime server working the night shift.

Adam Spies, an owner of Cowboy Corner Stores, explained to the council that human error was the cause of its underage sales violation.

“All of our employees are trained and certified before we allow them to work on their own. This was human error. He got busy. It happens sometimes,” he said.

Spies said the stores are now implementing the use of an app that scans the customer’s identification.

“We have caught a couple of fake IDs since this happened and we started using the app,” said Spies.

The council appreciated the businesses taking time to explain what happened to cause the violations. Holien stated that they had set expectations for the policy, and going forward, businesses and the council will know how to handle the public hearings for alcohol violations better.

This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Watertown approves architect contract for new ice facility