The New Ipswich Select Board presented plans for a $1.2 million addition and renovation of the town’s police station during a bond hearing on Tuesday.
The plan includes purchasing the building and land, plus and adjascent 2-acre lot, and adding a 2,000-square-foot addition to include a secure holding area and garage for police vehicles, plus extensive renovations to the entirety of the building, which currently houses the police station, an insurance company and dentist.
The renovations would be phased in, and the department would continue working in the building while the work was done, according to Select Board Chair David Lage.
The land and building are for sale for $395,000, with the remainder being construction costs. The board plans to bond $700,000, and use $500,000 from the town’s unreserved fund balance.
Lage told residents the board would enter into a 10-year bond to pay for the police station. The first payment, due in 2020, would have a 25 cent impact on the tax rate, resulting in an increase of about $50 in the annual tax bill on a $200,000 home.
Police Chief Tim Carpenter said the work would benefit the department “on multiple levels”. The current station, which was originally a medical office, doesn’t have a holding station, or a separate area to process juveniles or keep people in domestic violence situations separate. There is only one entrance and exit, which means arrestees have to be brought through the lobby, where community members may be, which is a potential safety concern. Because the department doesn’t have a garage, the two cars used during the shift are constantly running to prevent the need to defrost or clear them off, which increases wear on the vehicles and fuel cost.
“The list goes on and on,” Carpenter said.
When asked about the department’s arrest volume, Carpenter said in the past year, the department had 88 custodial arrests, and in past years, the number had been as high as 200.
Several residents who attended the bond hearing weren’t enthusiastic about the plan, instead favoring a previous plan to tear down Building No. 2, which formerly housed the police station, and building a new facility.
That plan was presented on the warrant in 2017, for an estimated cost of $1.8 million, but voters soundly voted it down.
Resident Bentti Hoiska said given the price of the renovation, he’d rather spend a little more to get a new police station.
“It doesn’t sound like a good investment. It doesn’t strike me as a good move,” he said.
“It seems kind of pricy, $800,000 to renovate a building,” resident Becky Doyle said. She asked if the board had looked at other options for the station. The board said it had not this year.
Selectmen said they didn’t disagree with those sentiments, but given the vote in 2017, they didn’t think a new construction plan would be accepted at the polls.
“I was in favor of that, and I would be in favor of that today,” Selectman Jay Hopkins said. “But the board and the taxpayers spoke.”
Lage agreed, saying it would also be his preference to have a new building, but voters found that plan too expensive. While renovating the current police building wasn’t “ideal,” it would serve the purpose.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.