ABOVE: The Southern Minnesota Educational Campus in Fairmont. The city council on Monday discussed two proposals for repurposing the building.

FAIRMONT– Some proposals for the Southern Minnesota Educational Campus (SMEC) in Fairmont were considered by the Fairmont City Council on Monday. The city had first gone out for RFPs (Request for Proposal) on the building in April of 2025.

Fairmont’s Economic Development Coordinator, Ned Koppen, said that the city received two proposals, one from Brennan Companies and another from LaSalle Development Group.

“A review committee was created. We vetted both of these proposals to make sure that they met the criteria that we’re looking for. Both of them were good proposals,” Koppen said.

He said the committee came up with a list of questions for each developer to respond to and once responses came in, the committee met again to review answers.

“After considering all factors, including the need for additional housing, project flexibility, adaptability, financial considerations for requirements necessary to make each project viable, the review committee recommends that the council considers the Brennan Companies proposal as the preferred development option,” Koppen said.

He said the proposal would result in 20 new units of housing.

Council Member Britney Kawecki said she appreciated everyone pulling the information together but she acknowledged that it was a lot to digest (210 pages). She suggested that the council wait on making a decision that night in order to to do a side by side analysis of the two proposals.

“For me, personally, I have a lot of questions. When will they start paying their taxes, how much are they going to be asking for in TIF (tax increment financing), tax abatement…. I think, for me, it’s not about what they’re offering, it’s what it will bring to the city of Fairmont in housing,” Kawecki said.

She added that while 20 units is a lot, 50 units, including more senior development housing, could be beneficial to the area when considering lower income market available housing.

Koppen said that while the committee had made a recommendation, the council can do as it sees fit. Kawecki reiterated that she would like to have some more questions answered and some more details laid out for the council to consider.

Kawecki made a motion to table the proposals. Mayor Lee Baarts asked Koppen if gathering more information for a comparison could be done by the next meeting in two weeks and Koppen said that it would be doable.

“For us to put it into a side-by-side comparison is not a huge task,” Koppen said.

Council Member James Kotewa seconded the motion. However, Council Member Randy Lubenow wanted to have some more discussion. He asked who all sat on the review committee and Koppen shared that along with himself, Council Members Jay Maynard and Wayne Hasek, Ron Kopischke and Betsy Steuber were on the committee.

Lubenow asked for some input from the council members on the committee.

“I’m certainly willing to do so although it seems some council members think we’re rushing to judgement,” Maynard said. “As for me, we spent a lot of time looking at both proposals and we believed that the Brennan Companies proposal was more fully fleshed out, more fully thought out and more fully developed.”

He added that that committee thought the proposal was more likely to come to fruition and provide a positive result for the city of Fairmont.

Lubenow asked if information was provided on how much rent would cost for the units and Koppen said that the information wasn’t provided. Lubenow said he thought it would be important information for the council to have.

In a roll call vote, the motion to table the matter until the Jan. 26 council meeting passed 4-1 with Maynard opposed.

In other business:

— The council made the following designations for 2026: Mayor Pro-tem- Britney Kawecki, Council secretary- Betsy Steuber, Depository of city funds- Bank Midwest, Newspaper- Fairmont Sentinel.

— The council approved the 2026 board/commission/committee assignments as presented with the removal of the charter review team altogether for the time being and the addition of Council Member Jay Maynard to the planning commission.

— The council adopted a resolution ordering the preparation of an engineering report for the 2026 street improvements. The improvements total $8.1 million and include Park Street and Orient Street, which are reconstruction projects, and 12 different overlay projects.

— The council accepted the review and proposals received for the housing study request for proposal and authorized staff to work with Bowen National Research and the city attorney to prepare a contract for future council consideration.

— The council went into closed session to discuss the consideration to develop or consider offers for the potential purchase of real property at 1720 Center Creek Drive, 1730 Center Creek Drive, 1740 Center Creek Drive, 1500 State Street N. And 1740 State Street N. Ultimately a motion passed 4-1 to authorize staff to submit a bid on property as discussed in the closed session.