Councilors question $38M price for new Portsmouth police station after Dover visit

PORTSMOUTH — Several city councilors have raised a number of concerns about the proposed cost of a new police station, the information they’re getting from city consultants and how building a new facility would impact other city spending.

Three councilors — Beth Moreau, Kate Cook and Andrew Bagley — introduced a motion to reduce the proposed cost of the new station in the city’s Capital Improvement Plan from $38 million to $25 million.

Moreau ultimately withdrew the motion before it was voted on, noting changes to the cost could be made later in the budget process.

But Bagley and Cook in particular raised a number of pointed concerns about the proposed cost of a new station, after recently visiting Dover’s police station, which opened about eight years ago.

Bagley said, “We asked for $38 million and the first number to come back was $70 (million),” in reference to the initial estimates presented to City Council late last year by a working group on the project. “That’s what made me question the whole process."

Dover police station tour 'eye-opening'

Moreau said after touring Dover’s police station she realized that “maybe what we’re looking at could be scaled down a bit, maybe not everything needs to be put in that was in our original proposal.”

She said Dover spent about $12 million on their station, “and we need a slightly bigger station.”

“Where this cost should come in, I personally feel it’s somewhere between $25 (million) and $30 million, based off of looking and seeing what has been done in the past,” Moreau said.

Cook called the tour “very informative.”

She called it “eye-opening” to remember that during a council work session on the new station, a consultant working for the city stated Dover has “already outgrown their space.

“And when we were there, we asked very specifically, the chief of police, 'Have you outgrown your space?' And he said, 'No. We have at least 50 years, we planned it for 50 years of room and we have that room to grow for 50 years.'”

“It really kind of helped me understand better that maybe we’re not getting the best advice around the police station,” Cook added.

Cook said if the council isn’t going to reduce the budget number for the station in the city's capital improvement plan, councilors should consider “moving it out a year.”

That way, she said, the council “can actually get reasonable assessments of what is actually needed.”

Cook contended that “to commit $38 million in taxpayer dollars, without having that knowledge, I think is irresponsible.”

Cook said she never agreed with the $38 million price tag, and spending that kind of money will hurt other city spending until 2047.

“It makes it very difficult for the city to do any major projects, even ones that are emergency projects for that long period of time,” Cook said. “We can’t do anything else that’s a major project.”

Portsmouth council not united on police station cost

Mayor Deaglan McEachern replied at the recent council meeting that “the capital improvement plan is a capital improvement plan.” Agreeing to a number, he said, doesn’t mean that’s what the final cost “is going to be.”

The council ultimately did not change the number in the CIP.

He later acknowledged “it is clear the council is not of a unified mind when it comes to a bonding event” for a new station.

During an interview Tuesday, McEachern stressed it’s still “early” in the process, and he expects the council to hold a work session sometime in April with the working group.

“We are going to look at this cost carefully. We’re not going to look at the Portsmouth taxpayers and say, 'We know better than you,'” McEachern said.

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"Whatever police are doing out there in Portsmouth, they should keep doing it, because we’re a safe city, and that doesn’t happen by accident.”

Dover has much larger population than Portsmouth, Bagley emphasizes

Bagley also pointed out during the council’s discussion that Dover’s population is about 33% more than Portsmouth’s, though Portsmouth has more tourism.

“But what’s important to remember is the police station is paid for by the residents, so there’s 10,000 less residents that have to shoulder the cost,” Bagley said. “Whatever we build, it’s going to be supported by the residents, not the tourists.”

He said he was concerned “we didn’t’ start with a tour of the Dover police station, when this process kicked off.”

“The building is less than 10 years old, it’s been a smashing success, there’s a lot of similarities with the communities,” Bagley said. “I wish that we would investigate the Dover building a little bit more.”

He estimated today’s cost to build a similar police station would be about $25 million.

Councilor Tabor pushes back against cutting cost

City Councilor John Tabor, who has served on the police station working group, said the decision to move forward on the station was made when they appropriated the money for the design.

“We decided we had waited far too long and we needed to move forward with a new police station,” Tabor said at the recent council meeting. “I think that debate’s over and we had that.”

“I think there’s maybe a desire to put more capital into other things that have higher visibility, than a police station,” he added. “This is a core function of what a city does. You don’t see it because you’re safe.”

The working group, he said, has been been trying to bring the cost down to $38 million.

“I don’t see how you can simply slash $13 million,” Tabor said.

The working group’s meetings have not so far been posted or held in public.

City Councilor Rich Blalock supports keeping the police station price tag at $38 million.

“At this point to ask them to go down to $25 million, I don’t think that’s a good decision at all,” he said. “I think we need to make an investment in our police station for the safety of our community. If we cut this in half that sends a whole different message that I don’t want to send."

City Manager Karen Conard told the council the administration recommends “leaving it at $38 million for the time being, until such time we are better informed by the working group.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Portsmouth councilors: $38M too much for police station