Ramsey gets new VA clinic -- The $9.95 million building will include outpatient facilities for primary care, mental health and services such as physical therapy.
By ALEX EBERT, Star Tribune - Last update: July 20, 2010 - 9:34 PM
After months of waiting, the city of Ramsey has emerged as the winner of a new veterans' clinic that will serve the northwest suburbs.
"We've been waiting on pins and needles," Ralph Heussner, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, said of the decision that has been more than a year in the works.
The $9.95 million contract went to PSD LLC, which will build the 20,000-square-foot clinic in the 7400 block of Civic Center Drive.
Groundbreaking is set for late fall, and the department hopes to open doors to the outpatient clinic before August 2011.
Originally, the intent had been to have the clinic operating by the end of this year, but the process turned out to be lengthy, [...]
The clinic will give veterans an alternative to trips to VA hospitals in Minneapolis and St. Cloud.
Developer Jim Deal, who operates PSD with his wife, Pam, said he was "kind of surprised" and wasn't expecting the announcement now, after what seemed like months of delays. "It is a great shot in the arm for the city," he said.
Ramsey Mayor Bob Ramsey said the clinic will be a great addition to the city's business center, especially the "COR," a 410-acre development the city hopes will become a thriving retail and business sector.
"It's another reason to be in Ramsey," he said. "Great news for vets in our area."
The clinic will be twice as large as similar facilities. It will provide primary care, mental health care and some specialty care such as physical therapy and audiology. It is also expected to have a pharmacy.
If this is a situation as it appears, a private-build effort but with a long-term lease to the VA, that would be best for Ramsey since it would put the building into the tax base. Strib reporting is silent on that point, hence it is unclear whether it is that way, and/or whether TIF was a factor.
Any reader with knowledge is invited to post a comment with detail.
Even if exempt from the tax base, or tax base effect is delayed via TIF, the decision is good news for Ramsey. It clearly is better news for us if the thing, (as soon as built), is added to the tax base, since in general public buildings go untaxed.
Best news - this is good for veterans who have waited some time for this situation to be resolved.
Construction should be an economic stimulus and hopefully if done as a private venture it will be built under prevailing wage arrangements that can keep everyone happy. One expects the VA to have a major voice in that specific decision-making.
________UPDATE__________
My understanding is Mayor Bob Ramsey is a Bosnian War vet, and he worked hard on the effort to have one of the two Ramsey Town Center sites selected. He can correct me if I got the war wrong, but the hard work's been there as a certainty. I briefly met Kurt Ulrich today and he indicated the arrangement should be one where the building contributes to the city tax base. ABC Newspapers report, this link.