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FFPD looks for space
Published 06:00 a.m., August 23, 2008
A committee dedicated to finding new law enforcement space is considering a half dozen potential building locations in Fergus Falls, says the city’s chief of public safety.
“We tried to look at the entire city and look at what area or areas would be viable,” said Tim Brennan. “We’re just trying to get answers back from about six different (property owners).”
Brennan is part of a committee including department personnel, city staff, councilmen Ron Burt and Hal Leland, and non-law enforcement residents. The group is working with Shultz and Associates, Inc., of Fargo in conducting a space needs study that will culminate with a report to the City Council this fall.
The group has spent much of the summer discussing law enforcement space needs, drawing up a rough floor plan for a new facility, and determining how much land that facility would require, Brennan said. Among other data, group members are using demographic outlooks to estimate how many officers the Fergus Falls population will require in the future.
“We’re trying to look ahead 20 to 30 years...so that we’re not outdated as soon as we move into a place,” Brennan said.
Shultz and Associates had been scheduled to present the group’s findings at a council meeting in August, but Brennan said that will depend on talks with property owners. Those properties are confidential at this point, though Brennan said one involves an existing building and the other locations would involving building new.
A new law enforcement facility is one of several major projects City Council members are considering.
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The Daily Journal is happy to host community conversations about news and life in Fergus Falls and the surrounding area. As hosts, we expect guests will show respect for each other. That means we don't threaten or defame each other, and we keep conversations free of personal attacks. Those who persist with racist, defamatory or abusive postings risk losing the privilege to post. To post a comment you will need to register. Or, if you're already registered but have not included your true, verifiable identity with your registration, you will need to update your account to include your identity. Effective Dec. 1, 2009, all posts appear with the commenter's true identity, which must be verified by site staff. Those who registered prior to Dec. 1, 2009, should be aware that once you update your information with your true identity, all prior posts under your user name will also indicate your true identity. If you do not wish to link yourself to prior comments, you should register again with a different user name.Posted by 1125thmp (anonymous) on August 23, 2008 at 8:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It would be interesting to see what differences and directions are noted by both groups proposals and studies after joint review. If the 13k for the Schultz study was required if the city itself is doing the same thing of having to physically look for room. That in itself can only point to engineering and physical requirements of space being provided by the study. Or am I wrong and an engineering study will have to be purchased as well?
Posted by brighteyes (jason stachowski) on August 23, 2008 at 10:34 a.m.
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by metasonics (Jamie Cooper) on August 23, 2008 at 11:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I hope they don't put this right out by walmart and mabel murphys or something like that.
remember what I suggested.
move the library and museum to the RTC and let the boys in blue take over the current library location or even the current museum.
would be more economical than building another new police station on our dime, and this would preserve the RTC.
they could also consider one of the many buildings at the RTC for the new police station.
I predict they will spend a bunch of money on a study, spend a bunch more on constructing a new building, which will need expansion in a few years and drive even more business from our community, by making Fergus seem even more like visiting the former east Germany.
Jamie Cooper
Posted by metasonics (Jamie Cooper) on August 23, 2008 at 12:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)
“We’re trying to look ahead 20 to 30 years...so that we’re not outdated as soon as we move into a place,” Brennan said
imagine Fergus in 20 to 30 years!
at the rate our elected servants are going at, we won't need police at all in 20 to 30 years.
everyone will have either moved away or just stay home because there will be nothing to leave our city owned Chinese sized housing units for.
Jamie Cooper
Posted by Mel (anonymous) on August 23, 2008 at 12:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Jamie is right on this, it's time to listen to these ideas. The RTC could be used for many things.
Posted by TheVikingman (John Magnuson) on August 23, 2008 at 2:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Oh wow. Mr Cooper I have been reading your posts and figured I would just leave them alone but man you are one interesting cat.
The only thing worse then the city council maintaining it's current makeup would be adding you to it.
You are entitled to your opinions and I can respect you for putting them out there but in all your thinking/posts/rants you fail to grasp one basic concept. We are part of a WORLDWIDE economy.
While our elected officals turned a blind eye to a movie being shot and the money that would be brought in from it because of their personal feelings you do the same thing by turning a blind eye to the possibility of the school that the CDG talks about. They have not been forthcoming about all the details up to this point of that I have no doubt. It might be small minded "none of their business" thinking as some people claim, or there may be a confidentiality agreement in play as other contend.
Quite honestly while you are a "different" choice, you really are no different, just your tunnel vision is focused on something else.
I wish you, and the city of Fergus Falls, the best of luck in finding a sensible answer to these challenges that face us.
Posted by metasonics (Jamie Cooper) on August 23, 2008 at 2:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
TheVikingman, I haven't turned a blind eye to the CDG, and whenever they have something to offer, I think we should take a look.
I don' think it's wise to put all our eggs in one basket, the current plan B if the CDG deal doesn't materialize is to begin demolition. the CDG have until December to prove they have a deal. M.r Anderson is still in the acquiring repair estimates phase.
either he has no deal, or he's dragging it out to get a better price for the facility.
I'm sure we would let the RTC go really cheap when December comes.
the only tunnel vision here is banking on the CDG.
there are other options!
in the meantime, we are going to be expected to build a new police station, our library needs to expand, and we just might lose both the rumored college and the RTC.
granted the millions of dollars Mr. Anderson has suggested could come to Fergus falls would be good, but the clock is ticking.
you say I am no different?, when was the last time you heard a candidate, give strait in depth answers to even the most personal questions?
better yet, where are the other candidates?
oh yeah Mr. Burt, the man I am looking to replace is exploring options for a new police dept., in a committee, after voting against the movie offer and doing nothing to help his own neighbors get either the required water pressure they are paying for or a reduced rate.
Jamie Cooper
Posted by metasonics (Jamie Cooper) on August 23, 2008 at 2:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The group is working with Shultz and Associates, Inc., of Fargo in conducting a space needs study that will culminate with a report to the City Council this fall.
how much will this study cost?, why is there a committee if we're just outsourcing the desiscions anyway?
I have a suggestion for you, take a look at what our police have now, listen to their suggestions for space requirements, find a suitable building as close to what they say is required, maybe even allow a little extra space for expansion.
bada boom, problem solved! local taxes spent on a Fargo company making these decisions for our paid deciders = $0.00
hows that for different?
I thought we were paying our city council to represent us and make intelligent decisions?
I don't remember electing "Shultz and Associates, Inc., of Fargo"?
Keep our tax dollars here!
Jamie Cooper
Posted by ffrogg (anonymous) on August 24, 2008 at 6:17 a.m. (Suggest removal)
as i recall, back in 94, hal leland couldn't find time to be available as adviser at the community college on registration day. he and others simply could not be found. i had to make a complaint, i remember it well. what nerve. that same school pulled that off again a few years back. they had the second year students doing the advisers work, thus my daughter ended up having to attend a third year there as she was set up with the wrong classes. i know someone else that went there and had the same problem. i'm sorry to be a citizen in your ward mr leland. i know you dont represent me for any reason. you have your conflicts of interest. you are too busy and unavailable. i'd take jamie cooper any day, but alas, i'm in the wrong ward.
Posted by Sumwun (anonymous) on August 24, 2008 at 5:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I wish the Journal would discontinue the blogging option on thier articals so the rest of town could be spared all of Coopers "wisdom".
Posted by metasonics (Jamie Cooper) on August 24, 2008 at 9:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)
theweasel, get your facts straight.
I played a card game against devobill when he lived in Fergus falls.
you and your gang were warned for attacking the staff of the Fergus forum and the rest of your gang left of their own volition.
I don't need NRA support, I used to be employed by the NRA.
devobill and myself disagree on various political issues.
we are able to discuss and cite facts while maintaining a respect for the debate, unlike you and your "chipmunk" squad.
I can't speak for their staff, but I think your own actions are the cause of your warnings and subsequent departures.
Sumwun, we used to agree on some issues, apparently that is no longer so?
now you support shutting the blog comments off to silence me?
are my comments ridiculous?, to suggest our council make decisions without hiring a firm from Fargo to make it for them? who better than our police to explain what type of facilities they feel are needed?
Jamie Cooper
Posted by metasonics (Jamie Cooper) on August 24, 2008 at 10:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"Jamie needs the NRA after his run in with Fergus law enforcement over wheapons storage." - theweasel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWGMDb3Jk...
watch the video and tell me what I did wrong other than turn my back on a local cop?
I am no longer employed by the NRA or the National Republican Party.
My affiliation with these companies ended in the early 1990's.
I continue to support our 2nd amendment rights, as well as the entire Constitution.
If the police would have responded when I asked for help with a drug dealer who was selling drugs outside of my business, and put a gun in my nostril, I wouldn't have even bought a gun, or the video camera http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWGMDb3Jk... that caught the police rearranging, and conducting an unlawful search and seizure in the first place.
our police violated my 2nd amendment rights, and smeared my name, which caused the ruination of my business and financial security. simply because I asked them for help, and gave them the names and locations of local drug dealers.
I gave the entire story complete with witness' to the daily journal and at the advice of our local police dept. the editor refused to print the story.
Brandon Stahl apologized in person and can verify my claims.
it was not until after he contacted our police dept to verify my story that I was set up.
Jamie Cooper
Posted by metasonics (Jamie Cooper) on August 25, 2008 at 2:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I don't know anything about five star ratings.
as for bad things happening in my life?
I think everyone gets screwed over.
I've given you truthful and revealing explanations, I honestly think you are just angry because you haven't been able to substantiate any of the rotten things you have accused me of!
there are many great and wonderful things in my life, and I don't take credit for everything. I gratefully thank those who have helped me and have quoted many of the people who have influenced me.
bottom line, I deserve credit for all the charity work I have done, and I didn't ask for an incurable disease, and did I ask or deserve to have my rights trampled by our local police dept.
so in a way you are right, most of the negative things that have happened to me were not my fault.
just as most of the negative things that will happen in your life, you won't see coming either.
life throws curve balls sometimes.
rather than throw in the towel, I'm here trying to make a difference.
both my parents are dead, I have no relatives to help with anything, I'm raising a child alone, and trying to make the best of things with a debilitating disease, that has killed many before me and may kill me too.
and all you want to do is tear me down?
whats your problem?
are you just afraid to trust because you've been lied to so many times before by others?
I have provided proof, I'm not asking for trust.
I'm just asking for a chance to earn it!
Jamie Cooper
Posted by metasonics (Jamie Cooper) on August 25, 2008 at 2:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)
theweasel, I just assumed you are "nottheweasel", as that users posts are obviously meant to mock me.
I did try to enter the video as evidence, when I was going to court I also wound up in the hospital with "sarcoidosis".
although I have gone over this entire story, I will once again just for you.
I was released from the hospital so I could attend court.
My first public defender dropped the case because she said she was unwilling to go against the officer and his prosecutor wife. I was then switched to a lawyer from Moorhead who told me I could accept the small fine, or fight it and most likely end up in prison, he also told me a story about people on death row with DNA evidence that proved their innocence, and that he would sleep great either way.
told me if I didn't accept the deal he was offering that I must not care about my son.
I fully intended to fight these charges, until the combination of my own lawyer being against me, my failing health and lack of money, forced me into a plea bargain.
while in court I was under the influence of "tramadol" to control inflammation and pain which would have otherwise killed me. tramadol also causes hallucinations as I told the court, when they asked.
bottom line was they didn't care.
I very nearly died, I could barely walk or talk in court.
I am not asking to be Mayor, I am running for city council.
as for finding another Lawyer when I have no money?, I did try to get one from Fargo, and they all want money up front.
at the very least the surveillance video shows,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWGMDb3Jk...
a local police officer, search my counter area without a warrant, confiscate something, leave with it, return and set it down, before taking photos of the item and take with him as he left the second time.
the police charged me with negligent storage of a handgun.
I agree the video is not as clear as a professional camera would have been, but it's the only video I have of the incident, and all the eye witness' in the video can prove it.
(continues)
Posted by metasonics (Jamie Cooper) on August 25, 2008 at 2:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)
thank you for you legal advice.
I know it's not pleasant or easy to be faced with the reality of what was done to me, and that it probably means that you have pointed your judgmental finger at others who may have been innocent too, but it still doesn't change the facts.
the video shows something you know is wrong!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWGMDb3Jk...
and I think thats what angers you the most.
the truth is staring you right in the face, and you still want to deny it.
who wants to admit that our police ruined an honest mans life?, that the people we've entrusted our lives and children to may not be on the up and up, that our courts took advantage of that same man while he was taking his prescribed medication to keep him alive, and knowingly our courts coerced and threatened a plea from a man who could barely talk and told the court he was under the influence of a hallucinate drug.
that I went from a lifelong triple A credit rating to ruination because I opened a business in Fergus falls.
that I was punished for protecting your kids from drugs by the people you are paying to do that job.
I know!, and I don't like it any more than the rest of you
but its fact!
I was naive, I am not now, and you are right, I should sue this city for what was done!
but instead, I'm offering to take a sad song and make it better.
Jamie Cooper
Posted by AmyO (anonymous) on August 25, 2008 at 9:24 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Wow. This is so sad. Jamie, you have absolutely no idea how a respectable, mature, professional adult should conduct him/herself. Your constant ranting, unending excuses, and continuous complaining make you seem like a 16 year old kid who simply never grew up. Why do you think Obama doesn't make "excuses" for his past drug use? Honestly, think about it? Do you ever hear him say "Well, I was a young black man in a predominantly white world and I never knew my real dad and I was forced to move from one place to another as a child and my grandparents raised me for large portion of my childhood and this is all what made me use drugs." No. He says, "I made some mistakes." And he owns up to them. That's what "adults" do. They take responsibility for their actions. They don't make excuses for them. I have a feeling if you were to be elected it would be "Deja vu all over again."
Posted by bucksteel (anonymous) on August 25, 2008 at 11:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It would be Brian Gullickson, all over again. Just a question of "how long" until the meltdown.
Posted by really (anonymous) on August 25, 2008 at 11:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Please Jamie Cooper do your campaigning/complaining some where else! I can't believe that the DJ is allowing him to do free advertising on here.
Posted by metasonics (Jamie Cooper) on August 25, 2008 at 7:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
what are you? blind?
excuses?
I have a video with a room full of local eye-witness'
my own son is in the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWGMDb3Jk...
there are definantly people making excuses here alright!
but not me.
I have provided proof.
I suppose Rodney King had it coming to him too, huh?
Jamie Cooper
Posted by Lala (anonymous) on August 25, 2008 at 9:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Well, I stand behind you Cooper! Keep your head up high and don't let these people try to bring you down. You're a good guy with a big heart! Keep on keepin' on!
Posted by Tmalve (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 3:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Well said AmyO and Bucksteel.
Jamie, I do not know a lot about you but I know enough that I would never vote for you.
Posted by username (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 9:08 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Comparing your issues with Rodney King? Good god.
Posted by metasonics (Jamie Cooper) on August 28, 2008 at 5:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"Comparing your issues with Rodney King? Good god" - username
both incidents were accidentally caught on video, and involve police stepping outside the law.
you have a point, Rodney King was high on pcp when police chose to step outside of the law.
In my case, I was sober and diligently operating a local business when our police stepped outside of the law.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWGMDb3Jk...
the result was much more far reaching than if I had just been physically beaten.
instead my finances, my reputation, my relationships, and personal freedom were destroyed.
the fact that I am still being criminalized by people like you for it, proves how far reaching the damages are!
thank you
Jamie Cooper
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