The battle over a key public criticism of the city’s plans to build a municipal campus at the site of Northland Mall appears destined for court.

Hours after the city closed on the Northland Mall property last Friday, a petition with 820 signatures landed on a desk at city hall.

The City of Forest Lake will build a municipal campus on the current site of Northland Mall using a bond issuance of approximately $22 million.

In the final meeting before the fate of the municipal campus proposal will be decided, the Forest Lake City Council and Economic Development Authority this Monday heard updated figures relating to a bond issuance that would provide $21 million in funding.

As this edition hits newsstands, the deciding vote on the $21 million municipal campus proposal will stand just five days away.

Those on one side of the issue will be left angry and disappointed no matter how the plan to build a municipal campus at the site of Northland Mall shakes out.

The plan to build a municipal campus on the site of Northland Mall on Highway 61 (Lake Street) survived another …

A long and emotional special joint meeting of the City Council and Economic Development Authority ended last Tuesday with a split vote moving a proposed $23.5 million municipal campus another step closer to reality.

Just when all the forums, endorsements and door-knocking were wrapping up, a local issue last week stole the spotlight from this Tuesday’s elections.