Voters request reverse referendum

“Hello, we have a petition for you.”

And with that, Carl Wieman handed over 315 pages, containing 2,766 signatures – and the clock started running on a decision that could bring two proposed new public safety facilities before the voters of Owatonna.

Wieman and about a dozen supporters brought the paperwork to City Administrator Jenna Tuma late last week, requesting a referendum on the city’s plan to build a new police station and a new fire hall.

City staff will now review the petition to determine whether it meets the legal requirements to be certified as “sufficient,” according to a news release issued from the city.

Under Minnesota law, the city has 10 business days to complete the review and issue a formal response.

“Our responsibility is to ensure the City follows the law while continuing to focus on public safety,” Tuma said in the release. “We are reviewing the petition as required, and at the same time, we remain committed to making sure Owatonna’s police officers and firefighters have facilities that allow them to serve the community safely and effectively.”

Dan Boeke, a council member at large, was also at city hall.

“My constituents asked me to be here,” he said. “This is grassroots democracy.”

In Minnesota, cities may issue bonds to pay for major public projects – like a new police or fire station – but residents have the right to force the issue to a public vote.

On March 3, members of the Owatonna City Council voted unanimously to provide preliminary approval to issue up to $65 million worth of bonds to build the new facilities.

City officials, including the police and fire chiefs, have said the existing buildings are outdated and inefficient, and lack privacy for confidential and business matters, as well as limited space for growing equipment and training.

The current fire hall was built in 1906; it lacks a dedicated decontamination area and adequate vehicle storage, requiring some fire vehicles to be housed at multiple locations across the city.

The police department operates out of a 60-year-old former bank building. City leaders have said it lacks secure areas, and does not allow for safe separation between the public, officers and suspects.

Residents have questioned the transparency of the process; Tuma disputed that at the March 3 meeting.

“In 2022, we really started talking about our facility needs,” she said. “We created a website page; we’ve been to, I think, 18 city council meetings or study sessions,” in addition to news releases and newsletters that are sent to residents.

“We held two open houses in February,” Tuma said, “and in November, we did a scientific polling where 75% of the folks who took that poll said they agreed to using city funds to support the needs of police and fire. That was in November, three months ago.”

They agreed to support it, but not at the proposed price – or at the proposed spot, Wieman said.

“People would say, ‘we’re not totally against the police or fire station, but it’s the cost and the location,’” he said. “I had people calling our house or stopping by, asking where they could sign (the petition). They want a different location.”

Wieman’s back yard abuts the site of the proposed police station; it is planned for the west edge of the West Hills campus, which is a National Register of Historic Places designated district, and is owned by the city.

To force the reverse referendum, the petition needed 721 signatures, a number that represents 5% of the votes cast in the last general election. Wieman and others collected nearly four times that many.

If the petition is certified as sufficient, the city will issue a reverse referendum certificate and the question of whether to proceed with the proposed public safety plan would be placed in the hands of Owatonna voters, as required by law, officials said.