Supporters of a proposed veterans home in Montevideo are willing to put their money where their mouths are, having pledged to raise $2 million locally toward the cost of the estimated $30 million facility. But it might not be enough; at least not in the short term.
The main problem appears to be getting the state to commit to paying the expected $4 million annual operating cost of the 90-bed facility after it is built.
Sen. Gary Kubly, DFL-Dist. 20, himself an Air Force veteran, told a group of more than 60 veterans and community leaders gathered Thursday last week at a town meeting at the American Legion that he and other local legislators “were a little disappointed” when the governor did not include the project in this year’s bonding bill.
He said he will continue to support the project and urged those present to be in contact with their legislators, if they were asked to do so.
Kubly told the group that the main concern expressed by Sen. Linda Berglin, DFL-Dist. 61, chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Budget Division, during discussions about the project was the on-going operating costs. The costs have been estimated at approximately $4 million per year.
“That is going to be the barrier we face, I think,” said Kubly.
State Rep. Lyle Koenen, whose District 20B includes Montevideo, agreed with Kubly that the on-going cost of running a veterans home is the sticking point.
“The priority is to keep the existing veterans homes running,” he said. “We need to make the capital improvements planned for them first.”
The federal government will pick up 65 percent of the overall construction cost and the state will pick up most of the remaining 35 percent, or $8 million. Pam Burrows, senior director of veterans health care for the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs, noted that no project will receive a Priority One listing until it has a commitment for the one-third local funding.
Kubly said the local funding commitment by Montevideo “is going to hold you in good stead when it comes to funding these projects.”
Montevideo also has a design drawn up that meets state and federal guidelines. And, as city councilman Marv Garbe told the group at the Legion, “We’re bringing money to the table. The other community (Willmar) isn’t.”
Willmar has put forward a proposal for a veterans home that will specialize in traumatic brain injuries. The Montevideo home would offer daycare, domiciliary and skilled nursing care.
