Workshop Item - Erik Thorvig, Community Development Director
Title
State Emergency Operation Center (SEOC) Facility Site Search
Background
The State of Minnesota identified the need for a new State Emergency Operation Center (SEOC) as part of a bonding request for the 2020 Legislative Session. The current SEOC facility is located in downtown St. Paul and does not adequately serve the operations. Approximately $30M was approved in the 2020 state bonding bill to construct a new facility. The timeline is to identify and design a site in 2021 and begin construction in 2022.
The State of Minnesota proposes to construct a new, approximately 50,000 square foot, two-level facility in the North Metro. The proposed facility would house two main functions - the main offices for the 60 to 80 employees of the State’s Department of Public Safety, Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM) and the State of Minnesota Emergency Operations Center.
The HSEM offices would serve as a headquarters for staff to plan and prepare for emergencies in the state as well as to respond and recover from those emergencies. HSEM staff have connectivity to Emergency Managers in counties and cities across the state and frequently bring outside agencies to the facility for disaster planning.
The SEOC would be the primary location where statewide responses to disasters are coordinated by up to 150 people representing the State, its agencies, and outside stakeholders. The SEOC is mandated by law to serve as the primary response location in the case of an emergency at either one of the State’s two nuclear power plants. Because of the critical nature of the SEOC’s role in emergency management, robust continuity of operations strategies will be employed to ensure that the facility maintains operations even when it is located amid the disaster to which it is responding.
Staff became aware of the interest in Blaine in late 2019. Discussions between city and state staff to find a site in Blaine reinitiated after the funding was approved in 2020. City staff provided nine different sites that met the site selection criteria. One of the sites that the state is interested in is owned by the Blaine Economic Development Authority (EDA) at 4001 Pheasant Ridge Drive (see attached map).
The EDA purchased the site in the mid-1980s. Portions of the site were sold for various light industrial developments. The remaining site is approximately 20 acres however has significant wetlands. A wetland delineation was completed in 2017 and identified approximately 7.59 acres of upland scattered throughout the site. In order to develop the site, wetland credits will be needed. Until a site plan is prepared it is difficult to determine the amount of credits needed. Staff had a concept plan prepared showing a 70,000-sf light industrial building that would have required approximately 4.10 acres of wetland credits at a cost of $446,000 if purchased from the EDA at a price of $2.50/sf.
The site has additional development challenges mainly related to the need to import fill to bring the property to an elevation where a building could be constructed and correct poor soils. Construction estimates were completed in 2018 by an interested developer that showed approximately $1.255M in site improvements needed to bring the site to a shovel ready condition, which included the wetland credit costs. Therefore, the EDA would need to sell the land at a drastic discount in order for the site to make financial sense for a developer since the site is not shovel ready.
Staff has marketed the site for approximately three years for industrial development. There have been several interested parties, however no developer has proceeded, mainly due to the challenges related to the site.
At this time, the state is seeking feedback from the EDA whether there is interest in pursuing a potential sale of the property for the SEOC facility. Additionally, they have asked whether there would be interest in the EDA reducing the cost or granting wetland credits to assist in making the project financially feasible. City staff has indicated to the state that it is likely too premature at this point to determine whether there would be interest in reducing or granting wetland credits as the costs to the develop the site for the SEOC have not yet been determined.
Staff Recommendation
Listen to the presentation and provide direction as noted above.
Attachment List
Narrative
Concept Site Plan