City council brainstorms future of Blaine police station

Blaine City Council and staff brainstormed during its February 28 work-study session what they would like to see for the future of the Blaine police station, bringing up ideas such as the station being relocated to east Blaine and being housed in the same building as the court.
Right now, the Blaine police station is housed in a retrofitted 1960s building at the corner of H and 3rd streets. Its evidence storage was previously housed in the old city hall, adjacent to the station, but was moved to temperature-controlled shipping containers behind the station last summer as plans to demolish city hall progressed.
The previous city council had asked the city to give one-third of the old city hall property for the police station to expand, while retaining the other two-thirds for potential future use of the city. But with three new city council members who started on the seven-person council in January, city manager Michael Jones decided to give council the option to review plans for the future police station during its February 28 work-study session. The session ended with council asking city staff to look into potential options for the Blaine police station.
The city will still demolish the old city hall, regardless of any plans for the Blaine police station. Jones said in a follow-up interview that the city’s large project volume and being short staffed in public works delayed the demolishment, planned for last summer, but it will likely be torn down this summer.
Jones said the city could build a new police station, but council would have to decide how much of taxpayers’ money it would want to spend. He also said it was up to city council if they wanted to create a 10-year plan for the station, or create a station that would be used past the city’s 20-year planning period.
One option discussed included creating a two-story building in the old city hall site, which would be larger than the current station, and potentially selling the current police station.
Blaine police chief Donnell Tanskley told councilmembers police stations need to meet certain codes and professional standards.
Council also considered moving the police station to east Blaine, where the majority of the city’s population is expected to grow in the future. Locations included near the Cost Cutter plaza, on Odell Road and the city’s park next to the U.S. Customs Border and Protection facility, although Jones said he would need to confirm the city could use the park that was gifted to the city.
Tanksley told council moving the station near the Cost Cutter plaza or by the Peace Portal Drive and Bell Road intersections would reduce response times to Semiahmoo.
“We don’t want to piecemeal the police station in any way,” said councilmember Mike Hill, who spoke eagerly during the study session. “We’re going to be a first-class city.”
Hill questioned if the city would be open to having a private company create a large, $100 million recreation facility at the old city hall site and have the city rent space within it for the police station. Jones didn’t nix the idea, but said a contract would have to be carefully looked over to work in the city’s favor.
Hill also asked about putting a police station behind the city’s public works department on Yew Avenue, but Jones said that area contains wetlands and a city stormwater pond.
Councilmember Kerena Higgins said she was interested in seeing the police station move east, so it wouldn’t compete with commercial business for space and could have room to grow.
Councilmember Richard May said he saw the pros and cons for both options, but liked the idea of having all city services close together downtown. He was also hesitant about the cost for some of the police station options because of the city’s tight finances.
“I really don’t think we have the money for a lot of land swapping,” May said. “I want us to keep in mind that what’s ideal and doable don’t always intersect.”
Jones suggested council could also look at housing the police station and city court in the same building, which is often done in other cities and has previously been requested by the city’s judge and administrative staff.
Councilmember Rhyan Lopez requested staff bring to council possible new building sites with information on whether the site is ready to build on, potential building square footage and stories. Jones agreed, and said there won’t be many options because there’s not much land for sale.
Jones said after the meeting he expected it would be at least two to three months until city staff could prepare a report for council.