North Platte staff present feasibility study for combined public-safety facility

Consultants and local officials reviewed a feasibility study for a combined police and fire public-safety facility in North Platte that estimates a 71,396-square-foot building would meet projected needs but stops short of selecting a final site or authorizing funding.

The study, presented by Erin Novush of Davis Design, recommends a single-story facility sized at about 71,396 square feet (a net program estimate of roughly 62,000 square feet before grossing) and laid out to include nine primary apparatus stalls, separate secured fleet parking, evidence storage, an emergency operations/dispatch area, a communications tower, and a community room for public use. Novush said the square-foot summary in the report is "we put 71,396 square feet."

The report was driven by a space-needs assessment and a run-time analysis from a consultant identified as Beckett and Raider, which reviewed roughly 30,000 emergency calls from 2014 through 2023 to model response times around three candidate sites the city provided. City staff and the consultants told the council the recommended option would maintain the city's three existing fire stations rather than consolidate into a fourth station or reduce the current station count.

Why it matters: officials said the current police and fire buildings are undersized and pose security and evidence-storage problems for the police department and functional limitations for the fire department. At the meeting a police official warned, "We're storing evidence in a whole hospital now," describing current space and security shortfalls that the study aims to address. The police speaker also cited imminent equipment needs and asked for long-term planning so large, multi-year costs can be coordinated with a facility decision.

Key findings and design notes - Size and layout: Consultants tested layouts that combine police and fire program elements under one roof to share training, exercise and meeting spaces and to centralize communications. The study's gross area estimate range was about 70,000–75,000 square feet, with the report number recorded as 71,396 square feet. - Apparatus and site demands: The plan includes nine apparatus stalls feeding directly to a road and separate outbuildings for larger vehicles (tanker, heavy rescue). The fire-side garage doors were described as roughly 14-by-14 feet and rapid-opening. - Staffing and future growth: The study built in internal expansion for staff growth rather than large exterior additions: police staffing was modeled increasing from 63 to 72 over a 10–20 year horizon; the fire side included capacity for approximately four additional firefighters. Because the candidate lot is constrained, the consultants said future horizontal expansion on that site would be limited and any additions would likely require acquiring adjacent land. - Site selection and run times: Consultants ran three scenarios on city-provided candidate sites. The option shown at the meeting sits in the southeast area of North Platte on city-owned land and was judged acceptable by the study even if not ideal for every run-time metric. The fire department noted it might prefer other locations but acknowledged the offered city site let the project move forward for cost estimating and schematic design. - Flooding and infrastructure: City engineering input said the site is prone to shallow sheet-flow flooding, and raising the site by about two feet of fill would mitigate a modeled 3–9 inch exposure in a 100-year event. City engineer Brent (last name not stated) said, "When we looked at the 100 year floodplain, it was the 3 to 9 inch is how much the [site] have to be built up." He also described planned future road connections (Francis and Newberry) that would improve access and likely reduce some modeled run times compared with the study's baseline using current streets.

Costs and next steps Consultants and council members said the presentation covered needs and conceptual design only; the meeting did not include a cost estimate or a funding plan. A police official noted an imminent radio/dispatch upgrade and other equipment needs but the replacement cost was not specified in the discussion. City staff and the consultants said further steps would include completing schematic design, refining costs, and returning to the council for direction on site acquisition (if needed) and funding. No formal motion or vote was taken at the session.

Community and operational considerations Participants emphasized operational priorities: secure evidence storage and controlled access for police operations, and apparatus access and run-time performance for fire operations. The consultants emphasized one-story construction as more efficient for emergency response and training, and the design includes shared spaces intended to reduce duplication of training and support functions.

The presentation closed with consultants and local architects available to answer follow-up questions; no final site selection or funding authorization occurred at the meeting.