HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017 08-12 No police substation at Rice and larpenteur - at least for now PIONEER PRESS8/ 14/2017
Roseville-St. Paul-Maplewood: No Rice-Larpenteur police station
NEWS
No police substation at Rice and Larpenteur
— at least for now
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By "'If�lll'� �"Illli�°JII�IN II4� � tvezner@pianeerpress.com � Pioneer Press
August 12, 2017 at 7:00 am
Because of a lack of interest from other government entities, the Roseville Police Department's push for a new substation at
the city's border with St. Paul has ground to a halt.
"As it stands, iYs dead," said Roseville Police Chief Rick Mathwig. "IYs disappointingthe project didn't come to fruition, but
thaYs not to say it couldn't (in the future.) ... We hope to resurrect this project:'
The plan was to put the substation at the busy corner of Rice Street and Larpenteur Avenue — a"gateway" that abuts the
three cities of Roseville, Maplewood and St. Paul.
Community input over how to reuarnKr th�= e,orn� r intea ,�om�=thirrg a hit rvrekre� c.crh<,siu� revealed a near-unanimous concern:
safety. The substation was advanced as one way to address that, particularly in the wake of an effort by Roseville officials to
invest more in the city's southeast, which includes its poorest census tract.
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8/ 14/2017
Roseville-St. Paul-Maplewood: No Rice-Larpenteur police station
Still, police officials in Maplewood noted that calls at the corner— everything from assaults to auto thefts— dropped
significantly afterthe closing of the Stargate nightdub in February.
Mathwig approached other departments to help chip in for the rent forthe potential substation, anticipated to take up a
2,000-square-foot space in a privately owned strip mall being built on the corner. In the meantime, the city's nonprofit
Police Foundation put up roughly $4,000 to hire an architect to do design and cost estimates.
They concluded the space would cost roughly $300,000 to build —$200,000 for the police portion, and another $100,000 for
a 1,500-foot community room, which they hoped public or nonprofit community organizations would use to conduct
meetings and provide social services.
The building owner offered a five-year lease for $26,000 a year.
But Maplewood police declined to participate, and St. Paul offered a handshake deal for an annual $2,500 commitment,
according to Mathwig. But since that handshake, St. Paul's portion of the pricejumped to $10,000, and that city balked.
The bigger issue, Mathwig said, was not getting any commitment from other government agencies to use the space as a
service base — notjust for public safety but also for other needs.
"The money to build it is one thing, but not being able to commit services, that ended up being the final blow," Mathwig
said.
Ramsey County officials said Roseville contacted their manager in charge of veterans services, public health, social and
financial assistance services, and community corrections to see ifthey had any facility needs.
The county replied that at the moment they don't, having sufficient nearby satellite offices.
But county spokesman John Siqveland said that while there weren't any needs now, the county would be open to having
"future conversations about the potential for community corrections needs."
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Tad Vezner
Tad Vezner covers the city of St. Paul, Ramsey County and sometimes the Capitol for the Pioneer Press. He
has been with the paper since 2006. He can be reached at 651-228-5461.
lu�` Follow Tad Vezner ��r�`;��14''"i���a.rliu��
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