Selectmen spar over spot for new police department
NEW CANAAN — First Selectman Kevin Moynihan denied that the playing field next to the YMCA was his favored location for the new police building after Selectman Nick Williams insisted Tuesday that it was.
Williams asked to have a discussion on the Police Department’s potential new headquarters, since he and the other selectmen listened in to a joint board meeting the night before where presentations were made on the seven options for its future. The next morning at their meeting, the three selectmen did not vote but voiced their opinions on the future of the building.
“My takeaway was that the overwhelming sense was to keep the police department where it is in terms of location to rehab the existing facility,” Williams said of the three-board meeting.
On Monday, the selectmen, Town Council and Board of Finance listened to presentations that included two scenarios for the current location at 174 South Ave. by Brian Humes of Jacunski Humes Architects and five site plans for different townowned potential locations by Kaestle Boos architects.
The costs would range from $11.6 million for renovating the building with officers working onsite to as much as $34.3 million if the town used one of two of its parking lots.
“I would argue that if we tried to do an alternative site, let's just take Saxe because Saxe clearly has been at the top of your agenda,” Williams said to Moynihan referring to the most controversial option to date, which has been the playing fields between the YMCA and Saxe Middle School.
The playing field is considered the easiest of the five potential town-owned locations to construct a building on and considered the “top spot” by Eric Rossi with
Kaestle Boos. Constructing on the location is estimated to cost $21 million.
Moynihan said that was not his favored site. “You told me two years ago you thought that this was a good idea,” Williams said. Williams, who has been outspoken against building on the ball field, said he has received nearly 500 emails against using that site and not a single one in favor. He said there is also a petition with 1,000 signatures opposing the ball field site.
The first selectman said he did not want to renovate an old building, instead wished to move the department to a site on the west side of South Avenue, south of Saxe Middle School. The town once considered building a Board of Education building on the property, but decided against
it. A new two-story police department constructed on the lot is estimated to cost $21.6 million. The architects cited that one disadvantage of the property is that the public may believe the building to be part of Waveny Park as it connects to a trail that leads from the park.
Two groups have been working concurrently on the police building project as the nearly 30,000 square-foot police station, built in 1926 and retrofitted from a school 38 years ago, is in disrepair and needs updating. Most town officials at the meeting agreed the police needed a better facility to accommodate modern needs such as simulated officer training, advanced technology capabilities and a female officer locker room.
The building committee
voted unanimously last Thursday that a new or renovated facility is needed.
Williams argued that if the town renovates the current site, construction would be able to start sooner and that he wanted to see the town “pull the trigger and go forward.”
“I agree that I will support the renovating in place. I will tell you having seen the existing conditions at the police department, we certainly need this as quickly as possible,” Selectman Kathleen Corbet said.
Moynihan said that he believes people are not always happy with the results of renovating old buildings. He added that even he doesn’t like the way the windows open in his office in the pre-renovated section of Town Hall. Too often, he said, there are unexpected expenses from an old building “down the road.”
Williams said he is glad that when Town Hall was renovated, the Main Streetfacing facade was kept intact, adding that it has been used for scenes in movies as recent as this year. The selectman also likes the current location of the police building.
“Whether it be a brand new building at the current site” or renovation, “I think the police department is in the best place possible,” Williams said. “It's close to the schools, it's close to downtown (and) it's on a major road.”
Both Corbet and Williams thought a benefit to renovating the current building was the lower cost, but said they would favor spending the extra money to move the police offsite while the building is being renovated.
To renovate the current building while occupied by officers could cost anywhere from $11.6 to $13.1 million while renovating the building vacated is estimated to cost $13.1 to $14.6 million. Constructing a new building on the current site is estimated to cost $26.3 to $29.3 million, according to building committee member Jim Beall.
“I would also be in favor of considering a new building on the site. However, the economics just don't make sense,” Corbet said.
The first selectman believes that if the police are relocated, the present facility could be sold to offset the construction expense and be used for multi-family housing.
“We have a lot of pressure to have multi-family housing in town. So I just think it's something we need to do,” Moynihan said. “This gives us an opportunity to have a new building somewhere and at a net cost lower than what we're going to end up with renovation.”
Police Chief Leon Krolikowski explained his desire to upgrade the training facilities with a multi-use training center that can be used as pistol range. “There's three things that make a great police department: policies, training and oversight. We are missing the training aspect of this,” he said.
“I think our police chief made a passionate, articulate argument for a training facility in town — training being one of the three keystones of having a great police force,” Williams said.
Corbet said she “absolutely agreed,” with the police having a training center. “I think having it in close proximity to the police department is very important.”
The three town boards will each vote on the options in the next few weeks and Moynihan said he would like to see the project decided on in December.