FREMONT- The Fremont City Council held its regularly scheduled meeting on August 25, 2020, in the City Council Chambers at 400 E. Military Avenue.
A major ticket item was the council’s decision regarding the Joint Law Enforcement Center resolution; a proposed new building project that would house and accommodate the Fremont Police Department, Dodge County Sheriff’s Office, and the Fremont/Dodge County 911 Communications Center at 29th Street and Yager Road.
The project’s total cost is estimated at $18,100,000. The city of Fremont would pay $10,317,000 while Dodge County would pay $7,783,000.
If the council voted yes, it would bring the Joint Law Enforcement Center to the ballot in November for the citizens of Fremont and Dodge County to vote on.
The City Council was divided on the issue during Tuesday’s meeting with Councilmembers Matt Bechtel and Mark Legband absent from the meeting.
The vote failed after a 3-3 split decision. Councilmembers Brad Yerger, Susan Jacobus, and Glen Ellis all voted no, raising concerns over its possible location and the last-minute timing of the resolution.
Councilmember Susan Jacobus said she didn’t think the current language for the ballot would clarify how voters felt about the project. Instead, Jacobus thought it should include three separate questions.
- Should we build the center with Dodge County
- Are you in favor of the location
- Are you agreeing to bond this project
“We need to ask the voters, not just about the bond, but there’s also a question concerning do they want to build a new law enforcement center jointly with the Dodge County Sheriff’s Department, and also are they in favor of this location. It’s almost like a three-question ballot,” said councilmember Susan Jacobus.
Assistant City Administrator, Shane Wimer, said, “It is a two-part question. Dodge County has to vote to see if they want it (the bond issue), and Fremont is part of that, so citizens of Fremont will get two questions.” He continued, “So if the voters of Fremont don’t want the county to come on board, they would vote no (on the Dodge County question) and they wouldn’t try to fund the portion of Dodge County, but they would vote yes for the Fremont portion.”
Councilmember Linda McClain, “This is the project that we’ve agreed and talked about taking to the voters. If there’s a certain aspect that they don’t agree with, they will vote no.”
McClain did state that she would be in favor of adding the address/location of the center to the ballot for clarification for those who haven’t been paying attention to the project.
Wimer said the city has panned out multiple opportunities to educate the community from the present day until the election to make sure everyone is informed before the vote. He said they have several community events lined up, posters ready to be given out and put up in the community, and the project is up on the city website with the location included for people to look at.
“The problem with changing the language this evening means that it has to go back to the attorney for approval. This has to be to the county clerk by September 1, if it’s not, it doesn’t go on the November ballot, and the project is killed,” said Wimer.
Councilmember Glen Ellis voiced frustration that the council had not been given much time to voice their opinion regarding the ballot language.
“This always happens. We’re always down to the last meeting. It always has to be done today or it can’t happen. This has got to stop,” He continued, “We’ve gotta give the council the ability to come in and voice concern. We are the voice of the people.”
Wimer told the council that they did have more time before, but that council halted design plans to receive more public input from the community.
Wimer was referring to when the council approved a resolution in late April to move forward with schematic designs to present to the public and receive input, before moving forward with design development services for the project.
Yerger agreed with Ellis that the urgency being put on the ballot language was unnecessary.
“The ballot language could have been put on the council’s agenda long before this, even if we were still working on the architectural design work.”
Yerger also said he didn’t like rushing the resolution when voters have not approved or shown unanimous support for the project yet.
“I think we’re wrongly assuming that the voters have already approved the overall project. They have not approved the location. They have not approved the overall cost.” He added, ” We’ve not shared that with them and when only 13 or so came to the public comment meetings, that’s not really full citizen input.”
Yerger said he agrees with Jacobus and wants the ballot to have more separate questions about the overall cost, and location. He said he wants the ballot language to be as transparent as possible.
Mayor Getzschman then made his comments stating that the process to build a Joint Law Enforcement center has been in the works for a decade.
“This started in 2010, with a joint resolution between Dodge County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bob Missel and us. A resolution was passed by the county board and then another passed by the Fremont city council to begin working on a Joint Law Enforcement Center.”
“We started with the sheriff’s department, not in support of the project, but previous councils continued to work to find a way to upgrade facilities to save taxpayer’s money. That’s the whole goal of this. We have to save money, and as an organization, we haven’t worked together to do that, said Getzschman.
Councilmember Mark Jensen said he went to both public meetings for the Joint Law Enforcement Center. He said he believes the location of it is exactly where the police and sheriff’s department want it to be.
“This is where they’ve stated they want it to be. They want access to the main arteries that provide better access for the city and the county. I’m sure, with what will happen between now and the election, with some more meetings with the public, they can see and know exactly where it’s going to be (located at),” said Jensen.
Council split the vote 3-3 causing it to fail Tuesday evening.
The Fremont City Council released an agenda for a special city council meeting on Wednesday evening regarding the Joint Law Enforcement Center. The special meeting will take place at the City Council Chambers (400 E. Military Ave.) at 7 pm.
You can listen to the whole City Council discussion regarding the Joint Law Enforcement Center here.
