Residents push council to use city-owned site for police station as council OKs financing resolution

Residents urged the Seabrook City Council on Jan. 7 to put a new police station on city-owned land at the traffic circle and to prioritize hiring more officers rather than building a new facility, while the council approved a resolution expressing intent to finance pre-design expenses related to a police station and the Pelican Bay pool.

Public commenters described rising traffic and safety concerns on neighborhood streets near the proposed sites and argued the city-owned traffic-circle parcel would avoid land-purchase debt. "The land at the traffic circle is already owned by the city of Seabrook and is debt free," resident Gary Johnson told the council, arguing that using already-owned property would be a more prudent use of taxpayer funds.

The council’s action matters because it advances early financing steps tied to a potential bond program. City staff described the resolution as a preliminary step needed before a bond election; staff also said the $1.5 million figure in the resolution is an estimate and "is not tied specifically" to a single project. Council members voted to approve the resolution on the meeting agenda item labeled 7.1.

Discussion: Residents and public speakers Terry Moore, who identified himself as a Seabrook resident, said traffic on North and East Meyer has increased and created "dangerous conditions for homeowners" backing in and out of driveways, and he asked the council to "vote yes to fund more police employees" and to "vote no to the new proposed police station" if that funding would be displaced. Gary Johnson urged the council to choose the city-owned traffic-circle site rather than buying land on State Highway 146 and Meyer Road; he told council members the 146/Meyer parcel carries a $2,500,000 price tag and argued that location would forfeit potential sales-tax revenue the city now collects.

Council action Under agenda item 7.1, titled in the packet as a resolution "expressing intent to finance expenditures to be incurred relating to the Seabrook Police Station and Seabrook Pelican Bay Pool," council members moved and seconded approval. City staff told the council the resolution would permit the city to include predesign costs in a future bond package; staff also explained the $1.5 million number shown in the resolution is an estimated, not a fixed, allocation between the two projects. The motion passed unanimously (recorded on the meeting transcript as "All in favor?" followed by approval language).

What remains unresolved The council’s approval authorized staff to proceed with financing preparations and design-phase expenses; it did not commit the city to a construction contract or a bond amount. Several public commenters said voters had previously rejected building at certain sites; one commenter, Angela Cervantes, warned about the potential consequences of property disannexation north of Friendship Park (she asked the council to treat prior resident experience as precedent during future discussions). The council did not make a site-selection decision at the Jan. 7 meeting.

Ending The council’s resolution advances administrative steps that would let the city include early design and preconstruction costs in a bond program if the council later places a bond measure before voters. Additional public engagement on both the police facility and the Pelican Bay pool is scheduled via upcoming town-hall meetings announced by the city.