Milton to buy former Dean medical building for $300,000
MILTON—The Milton Police Department is getting new digs.
The city council has authorized the city to pay $300,000 to purchase the former Dean medical building on the city’s east side, City Administrator Jerry Schuetz confirmed today.
The city council authorized the purchase of the property late Tuesday in a special budget planning session.
Schuetz said that attorneys for the city and the owners were still working today to finalize the deal, which would include the city pay $22,000 in taxes on the property.
The former Dean medical building, which is at 710 S. Janesville St., has been vacant since 2010, and is currently assessed at which is assessed at $910,500, according to city records.
The city for weeks has been in negotiations with owners to purchase the property. Officials have said the building would solve a shortage of work and evidence storage space that the city has at its current police station on Parkview Drive.
The department also has been grappling with maintenance issues and a shortage of vehicle storage space at the current police station, officials have said.
It’s not clear when the police department could move. Schuetz has said the city would need to build a garage on site at the former Dean building to house the police department’s fleet of vehicles. The building also would need some interior renovations, officials have said.
Schuetz did not have hard figures on what it would cost to transform the building into a police station, but he said it would cost about one-half to two-thirds of the total price of building a new police station of comparable size.
For complete coverage on this story, read Thursday’s Gazette, the Gazette’s e-edition, or check back at gazettextra.com.
Oct 11, 2012 at 2:13 p.m.
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Good move Milton.
wi55lady, since when is there a limit set on who can form an opinion? Are you starting something new, called the "Opinion Police"?
Oct 11, 2012 at 9:06 a.m.
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Thanks for the link Janesvillian.
I am a Miltonian and getting this building at 1/3 of it's value seems like a good use of taxpayer money. I was just remarking on the irony of the city having to pay back taxes to itself.
Given the condition of the old police station, I doubt it will add much to the tax roles.
Oct 11, 2012 at 7:51 a.m.
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I am usually one to be negative on a city spending money on BS projects, but it seems in this case, Milton did pretty good using an existing building rather than building a new one. And they were able to get it at one third the assessed value. Good job in my book.
Oct 11, 2012 at 5:52 a.m.
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Good move for Milton, glad they are making use of a building sitting vacant.
Oct 11, 2012 at 2:05 a.m.
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Badger2, I hope you are a Milton resident. Because if you are not, it's none of your business what happens in Milton. You're not a Milton taxpayer. If you are a Milton resident, then you have the right to express your opinion.
Oct 10, 2012 at 5:43 p.m.
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Cool
Oct 10, 2012 at 5:39 p.m.
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A buyer often needs to settle back taxes -- this is nothing different. Once owned by the city, however, the property becomes non-taxable; meanwhile, the existing police station will be sold and presumably go on the tax rolls.
.
The condition of the existing building was described here:
http://gazettextra.com/news/2012/aug/16/...
Among other things, there is limited storage space, only one locker room, insufficient indoor vehicle parking, and a leaky roof. Policing has changed a great deal since 1960.
Oct 10, 2012 at 4:29 p.m.
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This is just wrong and financially irresponsible to buy this building. Milton has a very nice police department right now......next thing you know they will want to build a new city hall or fire department....
Oct 10, 2012 at 3:57 p.m.
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Wait. The City is going to pay $22,000 in taxes to itself? I guess that would also include payments to the county and schoold districts.
How about access? It was always a real pain to get in and out when it was Dean. Maybe the 26 bypass will help that.
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