After scrapping plans for the site of a new police station last year, the St. Helens City Council went back to the drawing board.

The city has now settled on two potential sites for the police station, with one pulling ahead as a clear frontrunner. But as plans solidify on the new location, St. Helens residents will likely see an increase in fees to help fund it.

Two potential sites

A new St. Helens police station has been in the works for years due to insufficient space in the current building. Plans to build the station at the southeast corner of Old Portland Road and Kaster Road nearly came to fruition last year, but were scrapped due to an appeal to the Land Use Board of Appeals on account of the site’s location in a 100-year floodplain.

Rather than waste the money spent on designing the new station, the city council sought to identify other sites where the planned building would fit, narrowing it down to two potential spots: 1771 Columbia Blvd. and 2675 Gable Road. Building the station at the Gable Road site is expected to be more costly, leaving the Columbia Boulevard site as the frontrunner — though a decision has not been finalized.

The city does not own the Columbia Boulevard site, but City Administrator John Walsh said at a May 7 council meeting that the city is in negotiations with the owner to either lease or purchase the site.

During the meeting, the council voted 4-0 — with Councilor Mark Gundersen absent — to rezone the Columbia Boulevard site to be consistent with the potential police station plans. The move ruffled feathers for a few reasons, namely accusations that Mayor Jennifer Massey was unfit to participate in the vote because she is married to a St. Helens police officer and because she is being sued by St. Helens Interim Police Chief Joe Hogue. Resident Brady Preheim objected not only to Massey’s involvement in the decision, but the entire council’s, due to the city being named in the lawsuit as well.

All four council members present at the public hearing to rezone the site were required to state their defense to the objection and chose not to recuse themselves from the vote.

“I don’t believe that this zone map amendment has anything to do with the current litigation, so I’m going to continue on,” Council President Jessica Chilton said.

Additionally, residents present at the meeting felt that the council’s decision to rezone the site meant the decision to build the police station there had essentially been made already. The council rejected this, saying the police station plans weren’t finalized and citing the city planner’s explanation of existing improper zoning. Councilors said the city would benefit from the change regardless of if plans move forward to build the police station there.

“I’m still not convinced that (the Columbia Boulevard site) is the best spot, but I think we need a new station and I think we need to get moving on it,” Councilor Brandon Sundeen said.

Increased fees

Of further controversy is the potential increase of the public safety facility fee in the city’s proposed 2025-26 budget.

St. Helens residents pay a monthly public safety fee of $10 per housing unit to fund the construction of the new police station. The city also planned to use revenue bond proceeds to fund the station, but because plans fell through last year, the city will now have to pay arbitrage for not using the bond proceeds to build the station within five years. The arbitrage costs are expected to be about $665,000, paid for by the interest accrued on the bond.

Additionally, St. Helens experienced less growth than it projected and fell short of expected revenue from the fee. As a result, the city is proposing an increased fee in order to cover its debt payments.

In order to meet its debt obligations, the city has proposed raising the fee by at least 30 cents. Even with the fee increase, an additional loan of $2 million is expected to be necessary to complete construction of the police station.