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Much like neighboring communities, West St. Paul has serious needs for their fire station, police station, and city hall. Council approved an initial study to explore options, feasibility, and costs.
Facilities Planning
During the Open Council Work Session (OCWS), Council discussed a facilities system plan to address the need for the fire station, police station, and city hall.
- What: The consent agenda for the regular meeting included a contract for the study, which will cost $24,500 plus some additional hourly work. The results will be presented in December and will give directions and options for how the city can address the various needs, where to locate facilities, what sequence to build things, and how to pay for it all. These are not building plans, but an early study to explore options and feasibility before committing the city to any one path.
- Why: All three buildings are seriously out of space and outdated. The fire station alone is short 31,000 square feet, and is looking at needing four acres of space on the current 1.55 acres. The outdated space doesn’t meet current safety standards, creating unsafe conditions for firefighters and challenges for the police with some of their legally mandated duties. Employees raise the issue unprompted, highlighting how urgent it is.
- Previous study: A study exploring the fire station was completed in 2022, but it did not consider the other needs. “You can’t do fire station in a vacuum,” said City Manager Nate Burkett. That was also a conceptual study that didn’t go into the detail the city currently needs. Burkett noted some recommendations from that study were already implemented, and the new study will build off that work so they’re not recreating the wheel.
- Single station: South St. Paul and West St. Paul merged their fire departments to create South Metro Fire, though currently both cities have their own fire station from before the merger. Both cities face similar challenges with their aging fire stations. One potential solution is to move toward a single fire station. It’s a question raised multiple times, but hasn’t progressed much. While it would likely cost less overall, it would slightly increase response times to the far corners of each city.
- Cost: It’s too early for details, especially without knowing the specific plan, but with about $8 million in bond payments expiring between 2028-2035, an optimistic take sees a close to neutral impact on property taxes. A more realistic impact is a one to two year increase in property taxes.
- Context: West St. Paul isn’t alone in facing facilities needs, though plans in Inver Grove Heights and Mendota Heights have drawn significant pushback from their communities.
- Timeline: Council will receive the study results in December and will make a decision then about a path forward.
Other Items on the Agenda
- Delaware: Dakota County gave an update on the upcoming Delaware Avenue reconstruction project during the OCWS. The project will be broken into three phases, with tree clearing work starting this fall, reconstruction of Delaware from Wentworth to Dodd in 2027, reconstruction of Delaware from Marie to Wentworth as well as the Butler portion of the project in 2028.
- Public hearing: Council approved the final assessment for Robert Street sidewalk snow removal. No one spoke during the public hearing.
- Salary: In a procedural necessity, Council unanimously approved an ordinance change that sets their salaries for 2027 and 2028 at the same rate as 2026 after a proposed increase failed.
- Procedure: During the OCWS, Council discussed adding a standing item to the agenda giving Council members the opportunity to raise items for future discussion. This allows them to raise issues in a public manner and avoid violating public meeting laws. This did happen in the past in an informal way, but this formalizes the process.
- Introduction: New South Metro Fire Chief Mike Nelson introduced himself during the OCWS.
- Recognitions: Council proclaimed June to be Pride Month and recognized the 100th birthday of resident Marcelle Diedrich and declared June 21, 2026 to be Marcelle Diedrich Day. Diedrich has lived in West St. Paul for 74 years.
Engage
- Watch: City Council and OCWS meetings are archived online.
- Learn more: Guide to West St. Paul City Council.
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