North St. Paul City Council — Transcript
Saturday, March 15, 2025
DEED Grant Terms and Reimbursement Process
Future Options and Strategic Direction for the North St. Paul Community Center
Public Input on Community Center Renovation and Services
Votes (1)
Discussion and Direction on North St. Paul Community Center Future and DEED Grant
Dissent: No notable dissent recorded on the staff's directed information-gathering tasks; however, some council members expressed a desire for more comprehensive information on all options, including selling, before making definitive decisions.
The workshop focused on understanding the DEED grant's specifics, with a DEED representative clarifying grant terms, reimbursement procedures, and flexibility for project scope. City Council members raised questions about the legal implications of use contracts, the definition of 'governmental purpose,' and the city's cash flow during the reimbursement process. Staff presented a range of options for the community center's future, including selling, demolishing, and accepting the grant, potentially for an alternative site. Concerns were voiced about the previous consultant (Wald) and rising project costs. Council provided staff with direction to explore partnerships and community programming, and to continue with a planned Ramsey County Library presentation, deferring decisions on selling or vacating the property.
Notable Quotes (8)
city council has the authority now to make any decision that they want um and it's our responsibility as staff to provide the information for you to make the best decision possible.
when you were mentioning the 37.5 years sometimes that is a little bit misleading reality it's 20 to 30 years is the max when it comes to it.
in most cases what it's going to be is a reimbursement system so once you're paying for the construction or whatever Renovations permits and all that good stuff um once you're approved for the full funding just send that invoice into me and then I'm going to make sure it gets reimbursed directly to the city.
if you choose not to do one of them you know that's going to be totally up to you that's what I want sure is up y because that's where all of a sudden it's done it's like no you said this you said that said this no it's yeah it's just saying that those are the options that you chose to go with.
you technically because it started as of June 2nd 2023 usually have about four years from that point but we usually try our best to at least get the application stuff going as soon as we can.
is there um an ability for us to look into the impact of how it will um impact the residents in terms of um their wellbeing their health how they integrate into the community all of those things a community impact assessment is that feasible.
selling the property is misguided it's in harsh Mis alignment with what our current residents and Future Family residents need.
the community is the Hub the community center is the Hub and it has worked tremendously to develop young people... if you start with that in mind and not the other detracting voices that are pulling you in different directions you build something in your community where people can come to where families will come in where they'll spend more money where they spend more time in an area and grow your city in a way that you couldn't even imagine if you're only thinking of it from a financial lens.
Ordinances & Resolutions (9)
State funding appropriated for the North St. Paul Community Center renovation and improvements.
The state legislative act that authorized and detailed the purpose of the DEED grant.
The initial document required by DEED to formally request grant funds.
A DEED document to evaluate the city's financial and operational background.
The final contract between the city and DEED formalizing the grant terms.
A DEED form used to track and process invoices for grant reimbursements.
A preliminary document suggested for gathering interest in selling the community center or establishing partnerships.
A formal document for soliciting bids for services like architectural/engineering, selling the center, or partnerships.
A state statute requiring use contracts for grants over $100,000 to mandate listing vacant positions with State Workforce centers.