St. Helens council, planning commissioners pick Columbia Boulevard as preferred police station site

St. Helens city councilors and planning commissioners on Feb. 5 agreed to pursue a Columbia Boulevard parcel as the preferred site for a new police station after a joint presentation by consultants and a structured ranking exercise.

Consultants from Mackenzie summarized work dating to a 2019 needs assessment and showed two finalist sites: a roughly one–block parcel on Columbia Boulevard and a 1.7-acre site near the high school on Gable Road. Jeff Humphreys, a principal with Mackenzie, said the team's work included geotechnical, drainage and environmental reviews and that design development is far enough along to place the approved building program on either site. "I'm Jeff Humphreys. I'm one of the principals of Mackenzie," Humphreys said as he introduced the team and the analysis.

The Columbia Boulevard site was estimated at about $11.2 million for site development and related relocation work; the Gable Road site was estimated at about $10.8 million (both figures were described by consultants as hard construction/site costs and do not include property purchase price or soft costs). Consultants warned the Columbia site would require relocating a sanitary sewer that runs through the proposed building footprint. They also said rezoning would likely be required on parts of the Columbia parcel so the entire block clearly allows public safety facilities.

Gable Road advantages cited included more on-site room for future expansion and the ability to set the building back from the street. Disadvantages included potential wetland impacts requiring state and possibly U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permits, a needed annexation of a portion of the site currently in county jurisdiction, and uncertain terms with the school district that owns parts of the site.

Commissioners and councilors used a published set of 18 criteria to evaluate the two sites (cost, size, visibility, proximity to government functions, neighborhood impact, security, etc.). After commissioners and councilors individually scored the sites, Mackenzie reported a total score of 288 for Columbia Boulevard and 202 for the Gable Road site.

City staff and consultants flagged implementation issues for Columbia Boulevard: a sanitary sewer line currently across the block would "have to be relocated" to put the building footprint in place, and the consultants noted potential underground remediation items related to prior development on the parcel. For Gable Road, staff flagged wetlands permitting, annexation, rezoning to a zone that allows public safety facilities (or conditional use permitting), and uncertainty about how much of the school parcel the district would sell or retain.

The council made a formal motion directing staff to continue pursuing the Columbia Boulevard site. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously (Councilor Lisonbee Aye; Council President Chilton Aye; Councilor Gunderson Aye; Councilor Hubbard Aye; Mayor Aye).

Why it matters: Councilors and commissioners emphasized civic presence and public visibility as core reasons to favor Columbia Boulevard for a long-lived, 50-year police facility. At the same time, the council acknowledged tradeoffs: higher immediate site-development estimates, a sewer relocation cost and the need to negotiate property acquisition terms.

What happens next: Staff will proceed with the actions necessary for the Columbia Boulevard option, which may include negotiating acquisition or lease terms with the property owner, rezoning or land-use approvals, and design adjustments to accommodate the relocated sewer and any required street improvements. Consultants said additional permitting and off-site utilities would add costs not captured in the hard-construction line items presented at the workshop.

Quotes from the meeting illustrate the technical focus of the session: Mackenzie's presentation opened with, "...we signed the original contract for the needs assessment in 2019," and later emphasized, "Both the subject sites we're going to be looking at tonight can take this building." Planning staff and consultants repeatedly warned that wetlands and state/corps permits could add nine to 12 months or more to the schedule for Gable Road if impacts cannot be avoided.

Ending: Councilors framed the session as a coordinated step to align planning commissioners, council and staff so the city can move from site-selection into negotiation, permitting and design. The council did not adopt a construction budget or execute a purchase; it directed staff to pursue the Columbia Boulevard site and return with necessary next steps and any required decisions for future council action.