Frequently Asked Questions: Public Works

Golden Valley residents rely on the City to provide a wide range of essential services, such as maintaining streets, parks, and water and sewer systems and providing emergency response and public safety.

Over the past several years, the City has been assessing its aging public buildings to determine where improvements are needed. It concluded that the buildings that house the Police, Fire, and Public Works Departments can no longer adequately support the efficient delivery of City services.

That is why the City has put forward a new long-term plan that will invest $105 million for the land and construction of a new Public Works building and a new Public Safety building that will serve as the headquarters for the Police and Fire Departments.

The City’s Public Works operations would be relocated outside of downtown Golden Valley where a new Public Works building will be built.

The new Public Works building will consolidate operations and provide more efficient storage and work spaces. This would improve overall operational efficiencies for a variety of Public Works services, including water, sewer, and stormwater systems; road maintenance and snow removal; park and trail maintenance; and more.

The new Public Works facility will be located at 6100 Olson Memorial Highway.

The Civic Center Campus Master Plan will lay out the City’s redevelopment, and once the Building Forward process is further along, the City will need to decide the viability of reuse. The City will continue to work with residents to identify opportunities and priorities for new investments.

The Golden Valley City Council approved the purchase of property at 6100 Olson Memorial Highway for the new Public Works Facility on June 17, 2025. Once the site acquisition process is complete, the City will provide an update on the project’s next steps.

Friendly condemnation allows the City to move forward with the project while still collaborating with the property owner and ensuring they receive fair compensation. It also helps streamline legal processes that may be necessary for project timelines.

The new 1.25 percent local sales tax over a 30-year period will cover the cost of the projects as listed:

• $15 million to acquire land outside of downtown Golden Valley for a new Public Works building

• $45 million to build the new Public Works building

• $45 million to build a new Police and Fire headquarters building

Over the last seven years, the City has pursued an extensive facility needs review process to gain a better understanding of the challenges at its aging buildings.

During that time, residents played an important role in helping identify top priorities for new investments through community meetings, surveys, and a task force. The City then developed an investment plan that State lawmakers reviewed during the 2023 legislative session and authorized it to present a 1.25 percent local sales tax option to voters on November 7, 2023. The funds raised from the local sales tax will be used for the new Public Works and Public Safety facilities.

More details of the building and design plans will come forward in late 2025 to early 2026, once the City moves forward with the design and development phase with input from property owners and residents.