San Gabriel council approves Griffin Structures study to assess police facility needs

The San Gabriel City Council on July 15 authorized a professional services agreement with Griffin Structures to prepare a police facility space needs assessment, approving the contract and related budget appropriations by a 5-0 vote.

City staff presented the contract as a next step in long‑term facility planning for the San Gabriel Police Department, citing an aging facility built in 1962 that staff described as outdated and overcrowded. Acting Public Works Director Chang said the consultant will "evaluate the current conditions and provide us with options, whether we renovate, expand, or replace the facilities altogether." The study was described in the staff presentation as a five‑month effort that will include site visits, interviews with police personnel, and development of concept layouts and rough cost estimates.

Mark (city manager) told the council the needs assessment is intended to produce a planning‑level construction cost and program so the city can determine funding options, including potential ballot measures. "This needs assessment is designed to figure out what overall cost would be so that we know what we could or would need to generate either through our own funds or through a ballot outreach," he said. He added later, "This is the minimum amount we can spend to get a projection or an estimate for how much we would need to build a police station."

Council members questioned the study scope and timing. Councilmember Wu asked how many public touchpoints would occur during the five months; staff replied the assessment is internal only and will be returned to council when complete, with public outreach to follow if council directs. Several council members raised whether the study should also consider a combined public safety facility including fire functions; staff said expanding the scope to include fire facilities would add cost and that the city is conducting a separate fire standards of coverage study that may inform any combined approach.

Staff recommended the council authorize the city manager to execute the professional services agreement with Griffin Structures, adopt Resolution No. 25-29 to appropriate funds from police facility development impact fees, and approve a purchase order to fund the study. The staff presentation described a contract amount of $127,000 plus a 10% contingency; later in the same presentation a higher purchase order figure ($427,000 plus 10% contingency) was mentioned. The transcript shows both figures; the council approved the staff recommendation as presented.

Police Chief Elizalde acknowledged staff member Angela for leading the procurement and said the department was "very grateful for her hard work." The study period was affirmed to be approximately five months; staff said it will include interviews with department personnel, development of programmatic needs, preliminary layouts and cost estimates, and a final report to council.

The council voted to approve the professional services agreement and related actions; the motion passed by a vote of 5-0. City staff said they will return with follow‑up items, including a proposed polling and outreach consultant for potential ballot planning.

Clarifying details in the meeting record include the study scope (police facility only unless council later directs otherwise), a five‑month timeline, the use of police facility development impact fees to fund the work, and staff statements that the assessment will be internal with public outreach reserved for a later phase if and when the council requests it.