Hurricane staff outline 20‑acre civic‑center plan, estimate $43 million for new city office and police station; council weighs sale, lease or bond

City staff presented a programmatic study and financing options for a 20‑acre civic center property during a council work session, laying out square‑footage needs, cost estimates and a range of financing scenarios including sale, ground lease, and bond financing.

Staff said the property was purchased in August 2021 for $3,033,000 and that the city applied existing reserves and targeted funds to that purchase. Based on consultants’ programing, the staff presentation estimated the city office would ultimately need about 31,200 square feet, the police station about 41,700 square feet and court functions roughly 15,000 square feet. Using current construction‑cost assumptions and an estimated allowance for utilities and contingencies, staff presented a combined construction and infrastructure estimate near $43 million.

City staff asked the council to consider several funding paths: selling portions of the site, creating ground leases for long‑term revenue, or issuing bonds. Zions Bank Public Finance provided illustrative comparisons that showed sales of buildable parcels could generate a one‑time receipts estimate (staff’s conceptual illustration totaled about $13 million for several parcels under a highest‑and‑best‑use assumption). In contrast, the consultants’ ground‑lease scenario produced a steady revenue projection roughly in the mid‑$400,000s per year (the presentation used approximately $447,000/year) under the concept plan; staff emphasized the ground lease would produce recurring revenue while preserving ownership.

“Please do not sell this property,” the city presenter said, arguing the land is a long‑term civic asset that will be needed as the city grows. Staff noted the city is planning for a 25‑ to 30‑year horizon and that property sold now could produce relatively little relative to long‑term value.

The presentation included a breakdown of the property purchase funding: staff said the purchase used about $1.6 million from savings, $347,000 in parks impact fees, $175,000 from the water fund and $900,000 in ARPA funds. Staff told the council the city’s unrestricted savings available for this project were roughly $7.7 million on paper, but that the immediately usable balance is closer to $4.5 million when accounting for recent commitments and the conservative budgeting approach staff follows.

Staff also outlined phasing and timing: design work for a new building was estimated at roughly eight months to reach construction documents, and construction timelines were estimated at about 18–24 months, depending on phasing. Staff said the police station has more urgent operational and safety needs because the current police facility was not built as a police station. The police chief described operational shortfalls: “Our office was never built to be a police station. It's not safe,” he said, citing unsecured prisoner intake, lack of a sally port and inadequate evidence storage, ventilation and refrigerated evidence capacity.

Council members asked whether the two primary buildings could be built sequentially to reduce near‑term financing needs. Staff and the police chief indicated the police station is the higher operational priority because of public safety and evidence‑storage requirements; staff noted some interim space‑sharing or temporary portable buildings could bridge needs during construction.

On financing, staff presented bond scenarios. Under an illustrative scenario that assumed sale of some parcels and application of roughly $11 million of cash resources, the city would still need to finance roughly $32 million. A 25‑year bond at roughly 4.5% was presented as an example, which produced a rough annual debt service estimate in the low‑to‑mid‑$1.4 million range; staff said that total could be reduced by applying ground‑lease revenue and by accelerating deposits into the general fund to offset early years of debt service. Staff also noted that grants, targeted federal/state programs (CDBG, NRCS, other grants) and program‑specific funding might offset discrete items (energy efficiency, pool HVAC, pavilion improvements) but would not likely cover the full building costs.

Staff recommended the council not sell the property at this time and to provide direction on whether staff should refine the concept plan toward a ground‑lease model, a partial sale model or a bond‑funded civic build. The presenter reiterated the long‑term planning rationale: if the city sells limited acreage now the community may face a future shortfall of public land for civic needs.

Next steps: staff asked for council direction on preferred financing and phasing approaches; if the council wants to pursue a ground‑lease or sale strategy staff said they would return with more detailed market analyses, lease structures and refined pro forma financing scenarios.

For the record: the presentation drew on a civic‑center programming document and Zions Bank Public Finance scenarios; consultants and city staff (including planning, public works and finance staff) participated in preparation of the materials.