MINNEAPOLIS — Nearly three years after the Third Precinct on 3000 Minnehaha Ave. was burned down and fenced up, the Longfellow Community Council held a press conference, voicing concerns about the process of deciding what should happen next to the building.
"Our role was to organize community conversations to allow residents, business owners, community organizations to come in and share their input on where the third precinct should be," LCC Executive Director Rachel Boeke said on Tuesday.
The council and other neighborhood organizations said the city also cut down on the amount of time it is giving for input.
"Instead of a year-long process, residents would only have a matter of weeks to provide feedback to the city and instead of a larger community-led conversation the question put to the community was an either or," Boeke said.
Right now, the two sites the city is considering are 3000 Minnehaha Ave. (where the Third Precinct currently stands), and 2600 Minnehaha Ave., a couple of blocks down.
"Why the rush now after years of silence?" said Hub Bicycle Co-Op's Henry Slocum.
The Hub is located one building away from the current Third Precinct.
"We need to take the time to understand the city's need for a physical Third Precinct, what sites have been considered, why certain sites weren't brought forward as potential locations along with hearing constructive arguments about why locating a Third Precinct in either of the two proposed sites has positive impacts for the community."
In a statement the city highlighted the need for some urgency on the matter.
"City leaders determined a 3rd precinct building needs to be within the geographic boundary of the 3rd precinct area. Currently, Officers assigned to the 3rd Precinct are operating out of a building in downtown Minneapolis, which makes public safety service delivery inefficient. An analysis of available sites within the precinct boundaries resulted in two viable locations identified. These two locations are the only ones that met all of the City’s siting criteria and preferred conditions. The City is now asking the community to choose between these two locations.
The City is making an intentional effort to hear from the people who live in, work in and visit the precinct area on where they would like to have a new precinct building. In partnership with DeYoung Consulting, a survey was conducted to collect public opinions on these two locations. Five precinct-wide community conversations were held last month to collect their thoughts and opinions, with City staff on hand to meet the on-the-spot interpretation needs of attendees. reached a wider group of people, eight additional in-language conversations were hosted with cultural and under-represented communities for input in the process. People also shared their points of view online. A report is expected in June.
One of the goals of the engagement process is to "Share community input with City leadership and decision-makers." Ultimately, the information collected will be presented to the mayor and council members so they can make an informed decision based on community feedback.
More information on this process can be found at minneapolismn.gov/3rd-precinct-building."
City council member Robin Wonsley, who represents Ward 2, has been vocal about the need for more comprehensive community input sessions. She said the city might not be ready to move forward with a plan for the precinct.
"One of the ways the city can clearly do that is by actually laying out a concrete plan for a new comprehensive public safety system that goes beyond policing," Wonsley said. "These things must happen first, before any conversations about a multimillion dollar building."
Minneapolis estimates rebuilding the precinct at the current location would cost about $12-16 million over 18 months. Building a new location at 2600 Minnehaha would cost somewhere between $22-26 million and it would take three years to complete.
Officials say a comprehensive report involving all of these data points is expected in June.
Watch more local news:
Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities and across Minnesota in our YouTube playlist: