By Carrie Moritz, Gazette
On Monday, the Garretson City Council held its regular monthly meeting. While the weather outside was cold and icy, the meeting itself was hot, with news that the city will be acquiring just over 15 acres of land south of town for development.
Throughout 2020 and 2021, the council had explored the need for a new community events center and city hall, and after several discussions about location, had settled on the area south of current development between Frank and Main Avenues.
The main issue, other than residents' concerns about increased traffic and lighting, was the land owned by the city in the area was narrow, encompassed a creek, and was already slated for park and trail development.
Several months ago, councilor Tom Godbey volunteered to inquire and work with the landowner on acquiring the area between Frank Avenue and Main Avenue.
"Thank you to [landowner] Todd Pierret and Tom for helping get this started," Mayor Greg Beaner said during the meeting.
The council appeared excited to bring this news to the public.
"I think Tom deserves a great deal of credit for bringing this to the city council," said councilor Bill Hoskins. "This land will someday be a place to continue Main down to the gravel road, and I think it’s a great step for the future of the city of Garretson. It provides additional land for other public structures if needed, which could be municipal property but may not be, but will be another road out of town."
The specific area is 15.14 acres, and widens the "top of the boot" to what would be Center Avenue if the street had continued south. "The boot" is the tract of city-owned land from Sarah C Street south to 254th Street.
When the purchase is complete, the former landowner will be renting the land back from the city to farm it until it is developed, which is a win-win situation for all involved.
"We don't have to borrow money to do this [purchase]," said councilor Hoskins.
In all, the city will pay $302,800 for the fifteen acres, which is a cost of $20,000 per acre.
While this does not guarantee that the future community/events center and city hall will be built on the newly-purchased land, it does open up options for development and is a large step in that direction.
