CC_Minutes_2017_0717 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Regular City Council Meeting Monday,July 17, 2017 Page 9 fered the Foundation's services in leading the charge until it was time for the city to take it over. Councilmember McGehee spoke in support, opining this was an excellent idea that she had spoken to Chief Mathwig about in the past. Councilmember McGe- hee sought additional information as to how many square feet would be involved and whether they were adequate to offer multiple services, given the overall building size. Councilmember McGehee also noted the importance of the other communities and Ramsey County participating, since each shared their own set of problems in this area as well, and could all benefit from a cost-sharing venture such as this. Councilmember McGehee also asked if the substation was intended for a 24/7 law enforcement presence, especially if a transit center and bus stop was planned for the immediate area; and whether that included an officer and/or Community Services Officer (CSO) from those neighboring entities as well as how the City of Roseville intended to staff such a facility. When looking at needs across the board, Councilmember McGehee opined that she would place this a much higher priority than a golf clubhouse or repairs to the OVAL, further opin- ing that this was a critical infrastructure need. Councilmember McGehee stated that she was a big fan of substations and community policing; and gave a nod to Chief Mathwig for the work he's done with his department's outreach efforts over the last few years in changing the culture of policing. Chief Mathwig responded to some of Councilmember McGehee's questions, ad- vising that the area for a community room was envisioned, after consulting archi- tects, at approximately 1,500 square feet for the proposed uses, and if it was found at a later date to be insufficient, opined that was a good problem to have based on the community's receptiveness to it. President Faulconbridge concurred, advising that the Foundation had attempted to be modest at the offset and would continue to watch very closely if the city chose to sign a lease that the space and needs remained manageable and fair in paying for necessary improvements. For comparison purposes, President Faulconbridge advised that a typical high school classroom was approximately 900 square feet. President Faulconbridge noted some of the other amenities that would be nice at this location (e.g. full cooking kitchens for teaching and other possibilities) but opined that a good balance had been struck with proposed services at this point, and the need to continue value engineering for the side of the facility. Specific to the 24/7 staffing goal, President Faulconbridge noted that this would be the goal, depending on the participation of the other entities. However, Presi- dent Faulconbridge noted that this also involved a timing issue, and if the City of Roseville waited for all four agencies to come together, the viability of this oppor- tunity may collapse under the political climate. If Roseville takes the lead, Presi- dent Faulconbridge opined that it could then show those other entities the value of the opportunity and use it to facilitate multi-lateral discussions on a monthly level.