Posted: 11/23/05
Final Draft - by Cliff Buchan
Hospital site plans trample on foundersí wishes
A betting fellow might put a wager on the outcome of the ongoing debate over what is to become of the Memorial Hospital District property and old hospital building in Forest Lake. Some may say the deal is in the bank, so to speak, for future plans to build a 48-unit affordable housing complex on the campus site and use of the building as a charter school.
Purchase agreements between Fairview Health Services and the housing complex developer and a group affiliated with the Spanish immersion school have been reached. Fairview has been the leaseholder of the property for nearly 10 years under an agreement with the Memorial Hospital District Governing Board and plans to take possession in January under terms of that lease.
City approvals, however, still twist in the wind with strong opinions from those who question the properness of the housing project and the historical facts that defined how District Memorial Hospital came to be in the 1960s. Legal challenges could well come after Mondayís council decisions.
The issue came to a head this summer and fall as plans for the housing project moved closer to reality. It was in September when a review of the hospital building deed produced a set of covenants that restrict use of the property to medical purpose. It would seem the intent of the hospital founders was clear in the deed restrictions that were set down when the land where Memorial Hospital stands was sold for $1 to the hospital district.
But that is not how the process has gone as the process has unfolded this fall. And that is to the discredit of the hundreds upon hundreds of area citizens who worked countless hours over multiple years to plan and secure the hospital for this area.
Should we just accept the explanation that any deed restrictions that date beyond 30 years, such as these, are no longer in effect, as some attorneys have stated?
Should we just accept the explanation that this is how business is done?
Should we accept findings that all city ordinances and policies have been followed?
There is a sizeable group of Forest Lake residents who are so angry over the housing project plan that this issue could well wind up in court. There also remains an ever-shrinking group of area citizens who look on in disbelief as todayís leaders trample on the hard work and dreams of so many who worked to create Memorial Hospital. The aging voices of these citizens should be heard.
The latter group includes Violet Swanson of Danbury, WI. She and her late husband Melvin sold the hospital campus land to the group of citizens that provided the first hospital site and later sold land to the hospital district for expansion. At 86, she remains firm in her belief that the original intent of the founders be preserved.
There are puzzling aspects to the discussion that need answers.
How can the city of Forest Lake agree that the development plan for the housing project is fully proper when city ordinance clearly requires the property ownerís name on applications for permits? The locally elected hospital board, as the owner, has had no such role and in fact has largely been in the dark on Fairviewís plans for the property.
There is also the appearance the city is allowing the application based on the concept that this is the way business is always done. In real estate deals, the approvals are often needed before a sale is allowed. Does that make it right?
It is also curious why Fairview is so inclined to rapidly move on land and building deals.
Fairview should not come off as the bad business partner in this issue. Fairview, with the new hospital in Wyoming, has become a key partner in the community and has served this area with distinction.
And that is why some wonder about the rush Fairview seems to be in to part with the property even before it has clear title. The decisions to enter purchase agreements has led some to conclude that the action defaults the lease agreement with the hospital district board, although again, there are attorneys who donít see it that way.
It may not be fair to stipulate that the future use of the building has to be for medical purpose if such a use is impossible to achieve. But is it not a topic that could be explored once Fairview has title? Would a request for proposals for the hospital campus property not be in order on the simple fact that the site as of today is still public property?
Are there other public uses that might somehow fill the intents of the founders? Perhaps a school could fall into that category, but so could other public functions. We may never know.
That could change, of course, if Fairview, interested parties in the property, the city council and the hospital board retreat and revisit the issue next year when title issues are clear.
Then, and only then, can the founders of the hospital rest in peace with the certainty that what is right and just is being done. On this day when we give thanks to all that is important in our lives, it is the least that we should do.
Forest Lake Times
P.O. Box 218
880 SW 15 St.
Forest Lake, MN 55025
651-464-4601
Fax 651-464-4605