Scoop: St. Paul officials rejected other trash truck sites

• The emails show other city leaders aren't sold on relocating FCC, and that the site will remain contentious for some time.

State of play: The City Council voted last month to block FCC from using the Randolph Avenue property in the West Seventh neighborhood — but Carter vetoed that action last week, and recently declared a state of emergency that allows the company to stay.

• FCC is seeking key permissions from city officials to keep storing trucks at the West Seventh property it purchased in August.
• A neighborhood group with visions of redeveloping the area, the Fort Road Federation, plans to keep fighting FCC's presence there. Meanwhile, FCC has no plans to move, and has already started using the site.

Behind the scenes: With this showdown looming in mid-January, City Council President Rebecca Noecker emailed city officials to request they look for publicly-owned land they might swap with FCC for the West Seventh site, Axios learned. Officials discussed:

• St. Paul's police impound lot on the West Side.
• The vacant former K-Mart in the North End.
• Another industrial site on Pierce Butler Route in Frogtown.

The intrigue: Allies of the Fort Road Federation made calls to try to make the swap happen, according to a Jan. 16 email to Noecker from the group's executive director, Julia McColley.

What happened: Planning director Nicolle Newton emailed Noecker on Feb. 10 to report that none of the sites were viable.

• The St. Paul Port Authority owns both the K-Mart site and the impound lot, and has bigger plans for both sites, Newton wrote.
• The portion of the Pierce Butler site that the city owns is too small, she wrote.

The fine print: This was a list of properties officials had already ruled out for use in the city's much-smaller in-house garbage operation, which collects trash from about 10% of the city.

Friction point: The city was only looking at publicly owned sites, but there may be privately owned properties available.

• Noecker told Axios last week the three sites weren't a "comprehensive" accounting of alternatives she had asked for.

What they're saying: St. Paul officials have not reached out to FCC Environmental about a possible property swap or relocation, the hauler told Axios in a written statement.

• "We intend to continue operating from this location, as we believe we have met all legal and regulatory requirements to do so," the company said.

Plus: Carter argued in a letter last week that his veto is the final say on whether the site's light-industrial zoning is appropriate for storing trash trucks.

• "Our top priority is now to ensure that FCC Environmental's operations remain in compliance with the city's requirements and expectations," Deputy Mayor Jamie Tincher said in a written statement.

The other side: In a statement, the Fort Road Federation said the mayor's veto "sidelines the valid concerns of neighborhood residents, who have yet to be meaningfully engaged in any part of this decision-making process."

• McColley and Carter met on Friday, marking the first time the organization and the mayor have engaged on the issue, according to McColley.

What's next: The fight over the current site isn't over, even after the mayor's veto.

• FCC still needs the St. Paul Planning Commission to approve its plans for the site — and if it does, they then need permits to add fueling infrastructure.
• That all means this matter could again land before the City Council for yet another high-stakes decision.