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