City negotiating a purchase of property adjacent to new Central Sales location

Editor's note: The headline was changed to say the city of Jamestown is negotiating the purchase of property.

JAMESTOWN — The Jamestown Finance and Legal Committee unanimously recommended approval on Tuesday, May 23, to direct the city attorney to draft a purchase agreement for property adjacent to the new Central Sales Inc. location.

The sale is for the city of Jamestown to purchase Jamestown Southwest Second Addition outlot A in the amount of $445,000 plus closing costs and unpaid special assessments of approximately $29,000. The 3.5-acre property is east of the new Anne Carlsen Center campus and will be paid from the city sales tax fund.

Mayor Dwaine Heinrich said there are funds remaining from the school construction tax within the city sales tax fund to make the purchase.

The description of outlot A says it is not a building lot and is reserved from all private development, occupation and use, and no building permit can be issued for a private structure on the outlot unless the subdivision is replatted.

An outlot is a parcel of land that is commonly used by a city for the city’s interest and not for the construction of a building.

Heinrich said the Corell family has agreed to sell the property to the city to protect the ability to construct an overpass over Interstate 94 with a westbound on-ramp and an eastbound off-ramp.

“They will sell now but will not hold indefinitely for the city,” he said. “We certainly understand their position and willingness to sell at this time.”

He said the city has been working to get the North Dakota Department of Transportation to agree to construct a new overpass near the location of outlot A.

He said the business community and others will need to work together with local legislators to convince the NDDOT that the overpass with a westbound on-ramp and an eastbound off-ramp is best for the location.

The Jamestown Sun reported in February 2022 that the NDDOT has said the eastbound exit 257 is not a desirable design anymore because the close proximity between exits 256 and 257 — about 1 mile — creates traffic interaction on I-94 that has shown a crash history and the potential for an increase in accidents relative to the rest of the interstate system. The NDDOT has a policy with a minimum of 2 miles between interchanges in an urban area but federal guidance allows the minimum of 1 mile.

Other factors in pursuing the removal of exit 257 are overheight loads striking the structure in the past and it only provides two movements — eastbound off and westbound on.

In other business, Sara Hegerle, head coach of Jamestown High School’s volleyball team, gave the Jamestown Civic Center and Promotion Committee information about potentially having volleyball courts for the Civic Center. No action was taken by the committee.

Hegerle said the Blue Jay Juniors Program has grown from 108 participants in 2019 to 184 in 2023. She said a local tournament series in Jamestown has grown from 84 teams in 2021 to 94 in 2023.

Hegerle said there is a lack of gym space due to multiple programs using facilities at the same time when volleyball practices take place for the Blue Jay Juniors program. She said the usage for the volleyball courts in the Civic Center would not coincide with other events during basketball season.

Hegerle said the volleyball courts would have many different usage opportunities, including for practices, the tournament series league, other tournaments, private and group lessons and hopefully state tournaments.

Hegerle’s husband, Jon, who is the head coach of the University of Jamestown’s women’s volleyball team, said after the meeting that the Civic Center isn’t getting used most weeknights in the spring. When the two heard about the purchase of a new basketball court for the Civic Center, an idea formed to see if there would be interest for volleyball courts in the facility.

The Hegerles provided an approximate cost for four new volleyball courts from Sport Court of North Dakota in Fargo, Matéflex in New York and Court Tile Discounters in Florida. Four new volleyball courts could cost anywhere from about $76,000 to $168,000, according to the Hegerles. Four used volleyball courts could cost about $45,000.

The volleyball courts could be paid for with funds from a booster club, Sara Hegerle said. Jon Hegerle said presenting information to the committee was about getting “our foot in the door” and was unsure how the costs could be split to purchase the court if a partnership was formed with the city.