Oakdale Veterans Memorial Will Wait until 2012, Council Decides

The Oakdale Veterans Memorial will be constructed next year, and include a new police memorial that honors former Oakdale officer Richard Walton, the Oakdale City Council decided at its workshop meeting Tuesday, Aug. 9.

Although members of the committee working to construct the memorial at said they wanted to see it built this year, the council decided to hold off to see if they could secure some state bonding money during next year’s legislative session.

“We have to be prudent with when we fund this,” said Mayor Carmen Sarrack. “Hopefully we get the bonding—that’s like a windfall for the city, and the vets.”

Memorial committee member Ted Bearth said he doubted the city would get the bonding money. Instead, he asked that the city loan the committee money so that the memorial could be constructed this year, in time for Veterans Day.

“There’s only going to be one 11/11/11,” he said.

Sarrack said the city doesn’t have the money to make a loan this year, however next year, if the state bonding money doesn’t come through, the city will be able to fund the project with money from its capital improvement planning fund, which the council decided to start funding again in 2012.

Council member Lori Pulkrabek said she agreed with the decision to hold the project, but thanked the committee for the work they’ve done.

“I hope you don’t take this as a defeat,” she said. “It’s just getting pushed back one year.”

The committee could still hold a nice groundbreaking ceremony at the site on Veterans Day, said City Administrator Craig Waldron.

Committee members originally told the council they expected the project—now estimated to cost $65,000—to be funded entirely through private donations, however with the rough economy, the group has only been able to bring in about $10,000.

Another reason to postpone the project, Sarrack said, is that some additional planning will be necessary now that the police department wants to add an upgraded Richard Walton memorial to the project.

Walton was an Oakdale Police officer who died of a gunshot wound he received in 1982 while trying to thwart a robbery. The current Walton memorial is on a patch of grass in the parking lot.

Police Chief Bill Sullivan said the department could pay for the memorial with forfeiture funds.