CC_Minutes_2017_0918 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Regular City Council Meeting Monday, September 18, 2017 Page 23 At the request of Councilmember Etten, Mr. Culver identified the outdoor storage space leased form Ramsey County north of Larpenteur off Kent Street. Mr. Cul- ver advised that the city was not currently paying Ramsey County for that storage but had some dollars spend for erosion control based on what the city's spoils were doing to the area. While Ramsey County continues to threaten that they will eventually re-use the site and it will no longer be available for the city's use, Mr. Culver advised that they used the site for similar storage uses. Discussion ensued regarding various scenarios and square footage and efficien- cies of space and storage needs. Ken Stone,Architectural Group, Ltd. Mr. Stone addressed square footages and circulation of vehicles within those pro- posed scenarios; availability and use of yard areas and vehicle flow, including backing-up, deliveries, truck sizes and front end loader access. Mr. Stone opined that staff does very well in the current site under four acres, opining that his firm wouldn't even consider today working on a site that size for such a facility, but instead would consider a minimum lot size of 6 acres that would still be crowded and probably still require some off-site outside storage. At the request of Councilmember Etten, Mr. Culver responded that he would choose the second option versus adding yet another wing to the existing 1956 building. From his perspective for the long-term, Councilmember Willmus opined that real- istically the city needed to hold further discussion for a new facility and determine where it should be located, including the site across the street and potentially as- sembling those parcels at some point in the future even if it required a realignment of Woodhill Drive, County Road C or Civic Center Drive. Councilmember Willmus opined that it was time to look outside the box and address the city's cur- rent and future maintenance needs. Discussion ensued regarding short-term changes to the existing building such as potential restriping and relocation of vehicles. Mayor Roe noted the $400,000 projected cost for mezzanines and questioned if it made sense to lease more space and not get into retrofitting the old building, opin- ing that he'd prefer not to expend any more money for mezzanines and instead lease more space. Mayor Roe recognized the community band space, suggesting it may be more prudent to consider whether those storage needs could be com- bined with other space needs (e.g. Historical Society). Mayor Roe opined that it was time to seriously consider putting the Fairview fire station site on the market; while considering the timing of the lease in terms of other leased space for the Po- lice and Parks & Recreation Departments. Or, Mayor Roe questioned if it made