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City details temporary Kingston Road substation plan, lease and timeline amid Area 2 concerns
Summary
City staff told the Planning & Infrastructure GIS Committee it will lease a Kingston Road facility as a temporary substation for Areas 2 and 4 at about $9,100 per month under a three-year lease and aims to vacate the old Texas Avenue building by Oct. 1.
City staff outlined plans to move several police units into temporary facilities and described the timeline, staffing and cost implications of leasing a Kingston Road facility as a temporary substation for Areas 2 and 4.
A city staff member speaking for the police department said the Kingston Road site will house Area 2 and Area 4 operations temporarily. The staff member said the city has a three-year lease for Kingston Road at about $9,100 per month and that the administration's goal is to have staff out of the old Texas Avenue building by Oct. 1, contingent on Area 2 finding a nearer-term location. "I believe it's $9,100 a month, and we have a 3 year lease on Kingston," the staff member said.
The police staff member told the committee Kingston Road can accommodate roughly 45 to 50 officers plus supervisors and command staff, with sufficient parking and a staffed front desk for public interactions. Specialized units have already moved to other locations, the staff member said, and the automated-fingerprint equipment (referred to in the meeting as APHIS) is scheduled to move soon. Staff said the Kingston Road location will be set up with IT, firewalls and video/audio monitoring for public exchanges.
Multiple council members raised concerns about Kingston Road's distance from Area 2 neighborhoods and asked what effort the administration had made to locate a site inside Area 2. Councilman Brooks and other council members said they had repeatedly requested a location inside Area 2 and provided leads; city staff said they were actively looking and that finding a suitable, ADA-compliant short-term site with reasonable owner terms had been difficult. The staff member said the city has committed close to $1 million this year for rent, renovations and IT to make temporary facilities operational and estimated the police budget included about $600,000 for rent this year.
Staff said the city would continue searching for a closer Area 2 site and asked council members to forward property leads; no formal vote or directive was recorded during the meeting.
