St. Cloud Mayor Trying to Make Up for Deferred Maintenance

The city of St. Cloud is trying to make up for deferred maintenance.  St. Cloud Mayor Jake Anderson joined me on WJON.  He says over the past 20 years the city saw a modest increase which he believes was deferring a lot of maintenance.

Photo - Jay Caldwell

Maintain Employees

Anderson says the city had been losing police officers to other communities because the St. Cloud Police Department wasn't paying its officers the wages they could receive at other locations in the state.  Anderson believes his 2027 budget proposal will help pay these officers the wages that will keep them in St. Cloud.  He says "we couldn't afford to continue to lose staff".  Read more about the proposed Mayor's budget.

(Photo: Alex Svejkovsky, WJON)

Update on Former Herberger's Building

The new buyer of the former Herberger's Department Store building, Granite Commons, is still assessing their plans with the property.  Anderson understands that they would like to present their plans publicly at the end of September or early October.  Granite Commons has developed retail and professional establishments in past developments for east African immigrants or and individuals in the Twin Cities metro area.

Use of City Hall

The city of St. Cloud moved to the former Tech High School building in the fall of 2022.  Anderson says they are using most of the first floor, the 2nd floor is mostly offices while the 3rd floor is being used for storage.  A portion of the basement could be used to house dogs and cats in the near future.  Anderson says the basement has an auditorium style room, tunnels but no bathrooms.  He estimates that they are using about 70% of the building.

If you'd like to listen to my 2-part conversation with Jake Anderson, click below.