LE CENTER, Minn. -
Just a few years after the Guardian Inn Motel first opened its doors in Le Center, business wasn't going great.
Director of Le Sueur County Human Services Sue Rynda says, "They were finding that they weren't being utilized at capacity."
So after touching base with the Le Sueur County Human Services Department and receiving the proper licenses, the motel began housing clients with Serious and Persistent Mental Illness.
When neighbors found out, some were worried.
Concerned neighbor Jeremy Weiers, "They aren't supervised 24-7 and they are free to walk the streets, they have walked the streets."
The same streets Jeremy Weiers says his four kids walk and play on.
Weiers says, "It's a big community with lots if kids, everyone around us has kids."
Rynda says she understands the neighbors concerns, but she says these people aren't straight out of the MN security hospital or dangerous; they've gotten help and are ready to live in the community.
Rynda says "The diagnosis alone can be scary, but the fact that someone is work with us and willing to have services with us reduces their risk and the scariness around it."
She says of the 133 individuals the county serves, 90 of those already live in the community. Rynda says "They live in apartments, they live in homes with their families or spouses."
But while the arrangement was working well for the motel and the county, it turned out the arrangement was also breaking a city ordinance, not because of who they were housing, but for how long.
Rynda says "It's currently is not zoned for a long term stay for anyone, whether they have mental health issues or a local construction working in town for business."
The motel applied for a Conditional Use Permit, and after more than three hours of public debate last night, the planning commission voted to recommend that the council approve the permit.
The issue will go in front of the entire council on December 11.
