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Council authorizes design work for chemical‑mixing/storage at Mark facility after debate on safety and cost
Summary
Council approved a professional‑services contract to design a chemical‑mixing and storage addition at the Mark facility; architects and staff said the tanks and mixing operations require fire‑rated, containment‑compliant design, and council members pressed for budget discipline after an engineer’s rough cost estimate near $2.2 million.
The Metropolitan Council on Feb. 25 authorized the mayor to enter a professional‑services agreement (the agenda listed up to $216,441) with an architecture firm to design a chemical‑mixing and storage addition at the Mark facility, a site that services municipal vehicles and aircraft.
Stephen Long, a senior architect who spoke to the council, described the project as a technical addition to an existing complex: it would add bulk storage and mixing tanks, containment and fire‑resistant construction, and other features needed to safely mix and store pesticides and other operational chemicals used for mosquito abatement and aviation support. "The old chemical tanks at Mark's former site are rusted ... the tanks have reached the end of their usefulness," Long said, and the project includes demolition of old tanks and environmental remediation.
Council members pressed for cost discipline. One council member cited the architecture contract on the agenda ($216,441) as the design piece and asked whether a simple metal building would suffice; staff and the architect explained that because the facility mixes and stores hazardous chemicals, it must meet fire‑resistance and containment standards and cannot be treated as a generic storage barn. Council members noted an engineering estimate in the discussion of roughly $2.2 million for construction and urged staff to keep bids competitive, to share RFP guidelines with council and to seek cost‑effective construction methods where code allows.
Staff said the planned building would be a steel rigid‑frame structure with metal siding but would include required fire‑safety and environmental controls. The council moved the design item forward so the city can define the construction scope and then advertise public bids.
What happens next: the city will finalize design documents and release a construction procurement package; council members said they expect to review bid results and costs before final construction approval.
Sources: architect and operations staff who presented the project to council; the agenda item authorizes design work, not construction funding.
