Carlton County Board agrees to buy current Cloquet City Hall

The Carlton County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved buying the present Cloquet City Hall for $750,000, paid over six years with no interest, at their meeting Monday, Oct. 9. “Opportunities to find space at a reasonable price has been our goal,” explained County Coordinator Dennis Genereau. “This building is adjacent to the Health and Human Services complex and its parking area. We first hoped to sign an agreement at the $600,000 figure but several private parties were interested in the building. Fond du Lac Band was eager to buy because of a shortage of space. The price went up.”

Genereau explained that building the same square footage would have cost $2.5 to $3 million and the county needs the space.

“We are renting space now for other county departments,” he said. “Part of the cost of this building’s payment will be made from rental payments we are now committed to. Departments that are now in rental spaces will be relocated in this new county space. The building was constructed in 1991 and is new enough to help with energy savings per square foot.”

Members Cooperative Credit Union is building a new center on Minnesota Hwy 33 across the highway from Walmart. Cloquet City Hall will be moving to the old credit union building in the spring or summer after a garage is built for the Cloquet Police Department. The present city hall should be available next summer if everything goes as planned.

Maintenance of aging County buildings continues. Genereau got approval for repair of the radiant heating system in the Barnum County Garage at a quoted cost of $53,582. Approval was given for repairing a leaking heating system in the Courthouse basement for $6,280.

The Health and Human Services building, although relatively new, needs an updated control system for heating and cooling, which will be done by Johnson Controls with the Health and Human Services budget covering the cost of $28,900.