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Hurricane council hears case for new police station and city offices; officials outline sizes, costs and timeline
Summary
City leaders and police officials told the Hurricane City Council the current police and city office spaces are undersized and pose safety and operational problems. Council and staff reviewed proposed building sizes, preliminary costs, funding targets and timing, and discussed alternatives including phasing construction.
Police and city staff told the Hurricane City Council that Hurricane needs new facilities for both the police department and the city’s administrative offices, and urged the council to move quickly to address cramped, unsafe working conditions.
The city’s police chief described using a “soft interview” room as an office because of a lack of space, the absence of secure prisoner handling and parking, a cramped and poorly ventilated evidence room and an inability to fit the full department into training rooms. “It’s not a want. It is a need,” the chief said, adding that public access currently reaches areas used to park police vehicles and that evidence storage now lacks proper refrigeration and ventilation.
City Manager Caden presented planning figures: a proposed police station of about 41,700 square feet and a proposed city office of about 31,200 square feet. Staff estimated combined horizontal and vertical construction for the two buildings in the roughly $38 million to $43 million range, with utility infrastructure for the site separately estimated at about $6.5 million. Caden said the city currently has about $4.5 million saved toward the project and expected roughly $7.7 million by July; staff estimated roughly $25 million would remain to be financed (staff characterized this as “about 25,000,000”). Depending on financing, annual bond payments were projected in the staff discussion to range from about $1.2 million to $1.8 million.
Council members and staff discussed alternatives to building both structures at once. Options raised included building the police station first and holding off on a city office; combining uses in a single building; ground leases; selling or leasing excess land to offset costs; and making do with portables and renovations. One council member urged staff to analyze phased approaches, noting that a new police facility could free space in the existing buildings for administrative uses while deferring the city office construction.
Timing and schedule questions were covered: staff said design (engineering) for each building would take on the order of eight months and that construction timelines might range roughly 16–18 months for the larger police facility. Staff also discussed site extents: the civic center site under discussion is slightly more than 20 acres, with about six acres proposed for civic uses (police and city office) and a little over two acres of public open space.
The council opened the issue for more detailed review and public input. Staff said the city’s online survey on the civic center closes the same day and that the council will bring survey results and recommendations back for a formal discussion at the next council meeting in June. No formal land-use or financing decision was made during this discussion; council members directed staff to return with results, more refined cost estimates and options that explore phased builds and revenue scenarios.
Ending
Staff will compile the survey results and return recommendations at the June council meeting so members can consider funding and phasing options.
