The Washington County Board of County Commissioners approved the purchase of a 3.15-acre Woodbury property for a new county services center to house additional services for residents.
After long hunting process, the Washington County Service Center will relocate from Radio Drive to Valley Creek Road and Woodlane Drive, just east of Interstate 494 in Woodbury. The county has agreed to a purchase price of $2.1 million for the new site and plans to use the proceeds from the 2023 bonds to pay for the property.
Mandy Leonard, senior project manager for Washington County, said in an email that the new facility will house the license and passport center, the CareerForce center and the election polling place now located on Radio Drive. It will also offer services provided by Public Health, Community Services and Community Corrections.
The county’s 2019 Strategic Facilities Plan identified a need for a new service center to meet growing demand, Leonard said.
The current service center is home to one of Minnesota’s busiest license centers, according to Washington County Administrator Kevin Corbid, and doesn’t have the parking space to accommodate the level of traffic it receives.
The new location is expected to support the existing population as well as the projected growth of the Woodbury, Oakdale and Lake Elmo communities.
The specific location was also chosen in part because of the upcoming Gold Line Bus Rapid Transit System which will run between downtown St. Paul and Woodbury. The final stop will be a park and ride facility on Woodlane Drive, adjacent to the future service center.
Design work for the future Washington County Service Center is already underway and the county expects to close on the property by the end of the month. The project is expected to go out for bids this fall with construction to begin in the summer of 2024.
What’s next for the current service center?
The city of Woodbury has a right of first refusal to the existing service center building at Radio Drive and Central Park Place, according to Jason Egerstrom, the city’s communications manager.
Terms have yet to be negotiated, but if the city is able to acquire the property, Egerstrom said, it will likely be used for a future public safety purpose. The city’s existing public safety building is just north of the current county service center.
Another county takeover
Washington County as well bought a 9 acre farm on Bailey Road at Woodbury in late 2022.
That land could be home to a new roadside store, a yard waste dump and other services for county residents, said Wayne Sandberg, Washington County public works director.
“The earliest I would see construction would be 2026/2027,” Sandberg said.
