Martinsville Police Station: Preliminary design renderings & finance options
MARTINSVILLE — The Martinsville Police Department could receive its own police station in the near future.
The city of Martinsville held a workshop session Wednesday evening to share updates concerning the possible construction of a new police headquarters on West Morgan Street. The proposed police station would be located on the site of the former Chrysler building at 110 W. Morgan St. That building would be demolished in order to move the project forward and build a station in its place.
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The Chrysler building previously housed the offices of the Martinsville Clerk-Treasurer and building inspector.
Gary Oakes, the city's planning and engineering director, said the station is estimated to cost around $4.5 million.
During the presentation, Oakes provided an overview of the project's timeline and discussed possible options available to the city to finance the project. Oakes proposed that the city use a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model.
The city is considering entering into an agreement with the architecture and engineering firm RQAW and Envoy to see out the completion of the project. Envoy is an Indianapolis-based construction and development company. Envoy and RQAW's role would involve overseeing the building's development while Jeff Peters, the city's financial advisor, would lead the financial side. Oakes also proposed using Wilhelm Construction's services for the project.
Plans for the police station were last discussed during a workshop earlier this summer when city officials were first introduced to potential floor plans.
At this time, the Martinsville Police Department does not have its own station.
Police Chief John Richards said he is satisfied with the design schemes and is looking forward to having a police station constructed for current and future officers.
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"I think everything looks good. We have tried to come to an agreement on what we thought worked for us. I mean, we want to have as big a building as we can have so we'll have space for the future," Richards said. "But we also want to be responsible stewards of taxpayer's money and not not go crazy. So I think that we've reached a good compromise. We're just excited that we may be getting a police department."
Oakes said the city first approached RQAW for a design and estimated project costs in March.
Build-Operate-Transfer
The city is contemplating whether or not to utilize a build-operate-transfer model to subsidize the project.
An Indiana code enables local governments and municipalities to participate in public-private partnerships aimed at executing community development projects. The BOT model involves having a third party collaborate with an entity within the private sector to create infrastructure and operate the facilities for a specified time period.
During this time, the private party is tasked with securing the necessary funds to begin the project in question. The structure is then transferred to the public entity at the end of the agreement. Several municipalities and towns use this procurement law to assist with the development of infrastructure in their communities.
Oakes said Martinsville will benefit from the BOT model due to the flexibility it provides throughout the development process. This eliminates the possibility of having to undergo the usual design-bid-build model, which can be a protracted process depending on bid amounts. It can also feature more time-consuming steps, such as requiring the town or municipality to advertise a request for bids in the local newspaper.
Under the BOT model, there is a 0% chance that Martinsville will receive change orders during development. Change orders refer to any modifications that are applied to a project that differs from the terms laid out in the original contract. This can significantly disrupt or nullify projects altogether.
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The model also allows the city to cancel its request for proposals/qualifications (RFPQ) process at no additional cost. Additionally, BOT typically offers low issuance costs, no debt service reserve and no prepayment penalty.
"Supply chain issues are real at this point and there is an inflationary risk of what's going on right now, nobody really knows. So a contract with no price increase and no change orders makes perfect sense to us," Oakes said.
Projected floor plans
The city has received updated renderings from RQAW that were distributed and analyzed during Wednesday's meeting.
According to the provided renderings, the station would feature two floors containing 13,100 total square feet, with the first floor being slightly larger than the second one at 7,800 square feet. The first floor will include multiple departments and rooms that will aid local officers with their duties, including a large gym and more space to better serve the department's organizational needs. The first floor also includes a reception, lobby, property storage room, evidence processing and laundry.
The second-floor plan is projected to hold the offices of the police chief, deputy chief and additional conference and storage rooms. The detective's office will also be located on the second floor.
Next steps
Oakes said the city must pass an ordinance granting permission to utilize the BOT methodology. If the ordinance is approved, the city will send RFPQs to prospective contractors. Any who are interested will then submit financial and design details for the project. Then the most qualified team will be selected. The companies that are chosen must then deliver a schematic design, a layout of the financial terms and a guaranteed budget.
The city council must then decide to move forward with the project after receiving all of the designs, financing terms and a budget it is satisfied with. If this is approved, then financing is closed and construction can begin.
This article originally appeared on The Reporter Times: Martinsville Police Station: Preliminary design renderings & finance options
