New Ipswich Selectmen plan to take another crack at raising funds for a new police station next year, their third try since 2017 at gaining voter approval for a new department.
In the four months left leading up to Town Meeting, the board plans to put out as much information as possible, including a planned mailing which will be sent out early in 2020 detailing the proposal for a new, stand-alone police facility which will be located behind the town offices, on the site of the former police department, known as Building No. 2.
The board is also planning on holding at least one informational session specifically on the police station project, in addition to the required bond hearing and budget hearing.
The town has been seeking a permanent solution for its police department since 2008, when the department moved out of Building No. 2 due to mold issues, and into its current, rented location.
Voters have already turned down proposals for a new facility in 2017, as well as purchasing and renovating the current rented location in March.
The Select Board has gone back to the 2017 proposal for this year’s go-around – proposing to tear down Building No. 2 and build a new facility on that site. That proposal would have cost $1.98 million, and was turned down by a vote of 256 in favor, with 557 against.
Selectman Bert Hamill said in an interview Wednesday that those numbers are discouraging, because in order to take out a bond for the project, it must be approved by 60 percent of the vote.
“It may be an exercise in futility, but we’re going to go through with it, and see if we can convince the necessary number of voters,” Hamill said.
In other police department news, Selectmen reviewed the police department’s initial budget proposal during its meeting Tuesday. The department’s budget request is up by about $29,000 this year, mainly related to salary and overtime increases, as well as insurance increases. The increase represents about a 3 percent wage increase, which are awarded to police staff on a merit basis.