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Council hears update on public safety training building; $1.8M budget intact, site constraints raised
Summary
Public Works Director Haley Hart told the council the ARPA-funded modular training building for police and fire is proceeding but faced unanticipated site costs: undocumented fill, FEMA floodplain work and about 2,000 feet of water main construction. The project is estimated at about $1.8 million; some impact-fee funds will require amendments.
The Caldwell City Council received an update June 1 on the public safety training building, a box-modular classroom to be shared by the city's police and fire departments.
"This is a project that is moving forward in partnership with the fire and the police departments," Public Works Director Haley Hart told the council, noting the building was purchased with ARPA funds and is sited north of the Boyce River. Hart said the modular classrooms will sit on training grounds used by both departments.
Hart outlined several constraints that arose after the purchase. The proposed siting intersected a FEMA-designated floodplain and a grassy area that contained undocumented fill; the city had to remove and recompact fill and place structural backfill to keep the elevation above the flood plane. "Putting a septic system in a FEMA flood plane... we had to kind of work through a few more site constraints," she said.
Hart also said potable water and sewer were not immediately available at the parcel. Water required roughly 2,000 feet of new line and was constructed to serve the site; sewer currently will use a septic system because a gravity sewer connection would need another river crossing and a lift station, a much larger and costlier undertaking.
On finances, Hart estimated the project at about $1.8 million and said the city currently has about $1.8 million available. "So, we haven't gone over budget, but we have been having to bring change orders to you because we have been adding scope as we've gone along," she said, adding that ARPA timing required the city to purchase before the city's design and engineering teams had fully scoped site work.
Council members pressed for detail about which funds pay for what. Hart said the police and fire impact-fee funds, ARPA funds and a requested URRA contribution are involved, and that the city's water fund temporarily paid for part of the water line with planned reimbursements from impact fees. If URRA declines a requested $165,000 contribution, Hart said the water department would absorb the cost.
Hart closed by describing the project as "running rather smoothly" despite the sequencing and said staff would bring necessary budget amendments for the police impact-fee fund to cover a water-line cost overage.
The council did not take further formal action on the item; Hart said the city would continue to update council as procurement and change orders progress.
