02-13-12 Draft Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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ARDEN HILLS JOINT COUNCIL WORK SESSION—FEBRUARY 13, 2012 4 Mr. Frazier responded there is 24 hour coverage; at night there is a front desk person and a floor person on duty and the Program Director has his cell phone on 24 hours a day. Councilmember Holmes asked if there had been any police calls to the Minneapolis facility. Ms. Bauer explained that there had been two police calls a month for the past three months but those were related to activity in the area, not in the facility itself. Mr. Frazier stated that he understands the Council's concerns about safety but even in the inner city where they are currently located, they have not had any problems. They carefully screen the program participants and they have a professional staff. Ms. Bauer commented that their Harbor Lights shelter, which is one of their facilities in Minneapolis open to the public, recently won an award from the Minneapolis police for the safety of that facility. She added that the Rehabilitation Center is very different from Harbor Lights because it is all self-contained. Mayor Grant questioned why they don't upgrade their existing building and stay in their current location. Ms. Bauer responded that there's actually a small stream running under their current building and the cost to upgrade would be prohibitive. Mr. Anderson, Frauenshuh Inc., also explained that part of the problem with their Minneapolis location is that the warehouse on the current site is outdated with vertical warehousing which is very inefficient. The plan for the Arden Hills site is on 6.5 acres with 90,000 feet of warehouse space and a processing facility which will be of great value to the Salvation Army. The residential element of the program will be added to the Arden Hills site. Also, the Arden Hills site will become the administrative headquarters for the 120 Salvation Army Rehabilitation Centers across the country. Ms. Bauer added that there are approximately 300 employees associated with this program, some working on site and others at the various Salvation Army thrift stores. City Administrator Pat Klaers asked how many similar facilities the Salvation Army has across the country and how many are in urban areas. Mr. Frazier responded that there are 120 facilities, most of which are located in an urban area. He added that they are considering Arden Hills, in part, to be close to Bethel University which has been a source of many of their volunteers. Councilmember Holden commented that there is no public transportation in Arden Hills which would present a problem for the program participants without other means of transportation.