Urbandale reviews 94,943‑sq‑ft police headquarters plan, asks for guidance on geothermal ahead of bond ballot

City officials and consultants presented schematic plans and cost options for a proposed Urbandale Police Department headquarters and asked the council for direction on whether to include geothermal heating and cooling as the project moves toward a November bond referendum.

Curtis, introducing the presentation, said the building program and square footage have been defined and that architects and the construction manager had developed cost estimates. He told the council staff would seek "consensus feedback" that the project was moving in the right direction and emphasized that "one decision in the presentation today that we will need direction on is the inclusion of the geothermal heating and cooling for the building" (Curtis). The design team said that decision would substantially affect site layout and downstream mechanical design.

OPN and DCI described a current program of 94,943 square feet, an increase from a 2023 needs assessment of 74,148 square feet. The enlarged program reflects a 40‑year planning horizon and includes a 40‑stall vehicle garage (up from 30), a 12‑lane, 50‑yard firing range, about 3,300–3,400 square feet of reserved shell space for future build‑out and operational and public spaces including evidence processing and a community room (presenters). Presenters clarified the 40‑year staffing projection of about 100 employees includes civilian positions, and that today the department is about 70 employees when civilians are counted.

DCI Group vice president Michael Steen walked the council through three budget scenarios: a base budget that assumes conventional HVAC and utility power (roughly $40 million in hard construction cost plus contingencies and soft costs); a geothermal option that replaces conventional HVAC with a ground‑source system (estimated total about $59 million); and a geothermal option with a large rooftop/garage solar array (about $61 million). Michael Steen said the primary cost differences stem from mechanical and electrical systems and explained the use of design and construction contingencies and escalation allowances.

Presenters said the building will be "solar ready" (roof and electrical pathways sized and sited to accept solar arrays later) and that solar could be bid as add alternates (e.g., partial arrays of 200 kW, 300 kW or a full ~600 kW array). By contrast, presenters cautioned that implementing geothermal after bidding is difficult: "that decision is needed because that really impacts our site and we don't want to be designing two different ways" (presenter). Erin, summarizing lifecycle expectations, said comparable projects showed an approximate 15‑year payback period for geothermal on operational energy costs.

On financing, staff said Finance Director Nikki Lamb and financial adviser Travis Squires had a model showing the basic project with geothermal could be financed "without a need to raise the debt service levy." Staff advised preserving full solar as an add alternate at bid so the council could choose level of solar coverage later; geothermal would be treated as a design‑stage inclusion or exclusion because it changes site and mechanical design.

Multiple council members voiced support for continuing with geothermal and a solar‑ready approach and praised the design; presenters and staff said they would proceed with design development and provide a detailed financing memo and recommended ballot language. No formal vote to include geothermal was taken during the meeting; staff will return with ballot language, a formal budget cap for the referendum, and final alternates for bid documents.

Next steps: staff will circulate a detailed memo on financing and recommended ballot language, refine bid alternates for solar sizing, and continue design work on the system the council directs. If council formally selects geothermal before final design, the project team said that choice will drive well‑field and site layout decisions and should be made during schematic design.