Fergus Falls PD not in courthouse's long-term plans

Published 12:00 p.m., October 28, 2009

The Fergus Falls Police Department can’t stay in the Law Enforcement Center at the Otter Tail County Courthouse for the long-term, but it can remain there while city officials search for a new location.

That was the message that came out of a joint meeting Tuesday between the Otter Tail County Board and Fergus Falls City Council.

The Fergus Falls Police Department (FFPD) is considering a move out of the Law Enforcement Center it shares with the Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office due to a lack of space.

Rick Systma, manager of the county’s buildings, explained to the group that there isn’t enough space in the courthouse to meet the needs of both the police and sheriff’s departments.

That’s because certain departments need to be located in the courthouse, Systma said. They include court security, court administration, child support and collection, and probation, he said.

Taking into consideration those departments and the space of 12,000 square feet per floor, there “physically is not enough room for both of these groups to stay together,” Systma said.

Overall, the inside of the courthouse needs to be reconstructed and it will take several floors being added to the courthouse to be able to adequately house the departments located there, Systma said.

Systma said his second priority for renovating the courthouse is the Law Enforcement Center, following the renovating of the second floor. He estimates the second floor could be done in two years and the Law Enforcement Center would be complete a year or two after that.

Currently the police department uses 3,000 square feet of office space in the Law Enforcement Center, according to Fergus Falls Police Chief Tim Brennan. The detectives are located on a separate floor from the LEC due to space constraints. That results in a lack of communication between the detectives and other staff, Brennan said.

The police department also uses a vacant garage for storing some of its vehicles.

However, to meet the police department’s needs, 12,000 square feet of office and storage space would be needed, as well as 6,000 square feet of garage space, Brennan said.

The city is considering either moving the police department to the present library location or to a location between City Hall and the courthouse, Brennan said.

County Coordinator Larry Krohn noted that space needs are more than just desks, but also includes evidence and vehicle storage.

The sheriff’s department has a different take on the issue since it moved a majority of its operations to the Ottertail Operations Center about 18 months ago. Additional square footage needed by the sheriff’s department is minimal with the exception of the detention facility, according to Sheriff Brian Schlueter.

Commissioner Lee Rogness proposed having the sheriff’s department move with the police department to a new location out of the courthouse. Schlueter wasn’t responsive to the idea, noting that the sheriff’s department would be moving administration, records, dispatch and several detectives, for which the current space in the courthouse is accommodating.

Also raised during the discussion was the vacant second floor of the courthouse. The second floor formerly housed the county’s highway department.

The long-range plan for the second floor is to move the county attorney and court administration to the floor. However, the second floor is not up to code and needs to be renovated so it can be used, Systma said.

County officials also wondered how inadequate space will be affected by issues on the horizon: The possibility of a regional dispatch center, the installation of a new radio system and the possibility of court consolidation.

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