Groundbreaking Postponed on New Roseville Fire Station

The groundbreaking for Roseville’s new fire station, originally scheduled for June 11, has been postponed.

In its latest weekly news update, the city said Wednesday it is is involved in another round of litigation regarding the manner in which funding for the new fire station was approved.

"The citizen group, Responsible Governance for Roseville (RGR), has filed a petition for review," disagreeing with the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruling that backed a district court decision requiring the citizen group to provide a surety bond before proceeding with the court case, the city said.

As a result, construction of the new fire station is on hold until the Minnesota Supreme Court decides whether to grant or deny RGR's petition, the city said.   The state's high court is expected to make a decision by late June, the city said.

The latest wrinkle in the fire station saga comes after the Roseville City Council earlier this month approved more than $700,000 in contracts for the construction of the project. But the Council's approval was contingent on whether RGR would file any further appeals.

RGR  , but the Minnesota Court of Appeals dismissed its r lawsuit in late April.

Not counting the latest appeal, Roseville Fire Chief Tim O’Neill recently said the fire station litigation has resulted already in the department losing five weeks of the construction season on the project.

“The overall goal is to have the building enclosed by November 30,” he said. “That’s important to us to avoid additional heating costs and the weather slowing down the contractors.”

The city intends to build the new $8 million facility just north of the City Hall campus on Lexington Avenue. Plans are for it to be 32,000 to 36,000 square feet and would become the city's only fire station, replacing the three smaller fire station facilities. One of those smaller stations has been closed for several years while the city's original one, Fire station No. 1, was torn down this past winter to make room for the new fire station.