Menomonee Falls board unanimously authorizes design and financing work for police remodel and public safety training center

The Menomonee Falls Village Board voted unanimously July 7 to authorize staff to proceed with design, financing and impact-fee work for a combined Police Department modernization at Village Hall and a Public Safety Training Center.

Village Manager Mark Fitzgerald and Tom Hoffman, the villages Director of Engineering Development, presented revised plans and cost updates showing the two projects combined at about $35,000,818 and described how impact fees would cover a substantial share of the cost. "Impact fees pay about 62% of the combined project," Hoffman said, adding the Village Hall/Police portion was estimated at about $20,928,000.

Why it matters: Trustees said the projects aim to fix current safety and operational problems at the police headquarters (limited secure access, cramped interview and locker areas, insufficient vehicle storage) and to provide a local training facility for both police and fire that would reduce overtime and travel costs. The board was shown a lower-cost burn-building option made from containers and heard that locating an indoor range and consolidated evidence/impound storage on-site would reduce operational risks tied to off-site training and storage.

Hoffman walked the board through site and design changes that trimmed roughly $3.7 million from earlier estimates by reducing some fire bays and consolidating evidence storage into the training campus. He also summarized the financing picture, citing consultant scenarios: "Combined, the two projects would be about $35,000,818," and presented an illustrative debt-service impact quoted as roughly $22 per $100,000 of assessed value in the scenario presented to the board.

Fire Chief Pulvermacher told the board a local burn building would allow on-shift live-fire training and cut annual overtime and travel expenses. "The Menomonee Falls Fire Department conducts one department-wide live burn every year," he said, and estimated the department currently spends about $30,000 annually on live-fire training off-site. He described the container burn-building option as durable and replaceable and projected a 40-year lifespan that, at current overtime-cost rates, would more than cover the investment over time.

Police Chief Waters described the headquarters as "minimally adequate" after a 2003 remodel and said the proposed changes would improve safety and recruitment by adding a dedicated police entrance, multiple interview rooms with audio-video capability, a four-vehicle sally port and additional secured garage parking. On future capacity, Waters said the proposed footprint could accommodate an expanded force of "up to about 90 to 100 officers" if necessary.

Trustees pressed staff on durability and community impacts of the burn building, the proximity of the current outdoor range to nearby residences, and whether a standalone police facility was financially feasible. Village Manager Fitzgerald and trustees said a standalone police facility would be far more expensive (board discussion estimated roughly $60million to $80million) and could leave large, unused portions of the current building; they argued the combined campus was the most cost-efficient option.

Manager Fitzgerald also disclosed preliminary, verbal discussions with the school district about a potential capital buyout (about $250,000) of the districts upstairs lease through 2029; he emphasized the buyout and any relocation remain subject to school board approval and are not yet finalized.

Action taken: Trustee Matt Hazen moved to "direct Village staff, the Village Board authorizing the expansion and modernization of the Police Department and the Village Hall and the construction of a Public Safety Training Facility projects and direct the Village Manager to proceed with financing." The motion was seconded, called to a voice vote and passed unanimously.

What comes next: Staff will finalize designs with the architect, continue work on an impact-fee ordinance and refine financing plans; the village indicated it expects to issue 20-year debt and to seek bids (likely in separate contracts) with construction targeted to start in 2026 pending final approvals and market conditions.

Votes at a glance: Motion to authorize design and financing of the Police Department/Village Hall modernization and Public Safety Training Facility: passed unanimously (individual roll-call votes not recorded in the transcript).