City Council Schedules Work Session on Community Policing Facility for May 20

The public is invited to attend a City Council Work Session for the Community Policing Facility with City staff and consultants on Monday, May 20, 2024 at 6 pm in Council Chambers at City Hall and via Zoom. City staff will be on hand starting at 5:30 pm to discuss the history of the project efforts to date and answer questions from the public.

Through a competitive process early in 2023, the City selected Lavallee Brensinger Architects (LVBA) and Architects Design Group (ADG) as consultants on the project. Their first task was to update the 2014 Space Needs Assessment, conducted in collaboration with City and Police Department staff. A working group was formed consisting of Police and City staff, City Councilor John Tabor, Police Commissioner Kate Coyle, and citizen representatives John O’Leary and Anthony Coviello.

The Working Group and the consultants developed concepts for the renovation or relocation of the Policing Facility on City-owned sites. Seven sites were determined to be suitable to meet the requirements for a new facility. A public meeting was held in July 2023, the sites were ranked, and two were eliminated. Further refinements of the space needs assessment provided the consultants with the information necessary to deliver the first test fits of the facility on the five top-ranked sites. A project update was presented at a public meeting in September 2023.

Following this meeting, the consultants delivered an opinion of cost for building a new facility on the sites and renovating the current Police Station. The cost estimates came in well above the budgeted monies for the project in the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). Two joint work sessions with the City Council and the Police Commission were held in November and December 2023 to provide an update on the findings of the Working Group and to seek direction for the next steps. While no formal votes were taken at the Work Sessions, there were strong preferences to keep the new Community Policing Facility on the municipal campus, stay within the budget provided by the CIP, and explore renovations of the existing facility to contain those costs.

The Working Group began developing a hybrid program that includes renovating portions of the current facility and constructing an addition to improve operations of the Police Department. This will also provide community space, create better training facilities, and improve the Department’s ability to attract and retain top talent. The City staff looks forward to presenting the next iteration of facility design, including space adjacency diagrams, space planning, 3D images, and updated budget cost estimation at the May 20, 2024 Work Session.

For more information, including presentations, the latest space needs assessment, and site ranking criteria visit the project webpage.