Lowell's next mayor seeks halt on planned new police station

A view of the Lowell Police Department and municipal court building Friday in Lowell.
A view of the Lowell Police Department and municipal court building Friday in Lowell.

LOWELL -- The city's mayor-elect said he will halt plans to build a new police station.

"I don't believe we have the funding in place," Lowell Mayor-elect Chris Moore said Thursday.

Moore said the city has more important issues to focus on, noting a grant that goes toward 12 firefighters' salaries expires in two years.

Moore said the city should focus on building its sales tax base to pay those salaries when the Staffing Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security runs out.

Finance Director Jerry Hudlow said in an email the grant began paying part of the salaries and benefits of the firefighters this year and will run out in 2020. The city cannot reapply for the grant. The grant is estimated to cover more than $1.1 million worth of salaries and benefits.

The starting salary of a firefighter was $32,970 when the grant began.

The City Council is expected to vote today whether to approve the 2019 budget. The Police Department's budget includes $100,000 for architecture work for a new station, Hudlow said.

Police Chief Randy Harvey said the money would not cover all of the architecture work, but was intended to show a commitment to the project. The entire project is estimated to cost more than $3.3 million, although Mayor Eldon Long said that figure is a maximum cost, and he estimates the city could complete the project for about 20 percent less, which would be about $2.6 million.

The plan is for the new station to be built at the city-owned Kathleen Johnson Memorial Park west of Exit 78 off Interstate 49, Harvey said.

The police station at 214 N. Lincoln St. shares a 7,500-square-foot building with District Court. Upon entering the police station, there is a set of double doors -- one reads "Court" and one reads "Police." The doors open up to a shared lobby with two chairs and two service desk windows -- one for court and one for police.

Harvey said Long brought the idea of a new police station to him about a year ago.

"It's not a small project, but a necessary project," Long said.

Although the station is functional, it is "certainly not ideal," especially given the city's expected growth, Long said.

"We've outgrown this building here. It was originally built as city hall," Harvey said.

Lowell had a population of about 9,200 people in 2017, compared to about 7,700 people in 2012 and about 7,000 people in 2005, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Long said the city's tentative plan has been for the new station to open in 2022.

"This was laid out assuming I would be re-elected," Long said.

Moore defeated Long in November's election after receiving 54 percent of the vote. Long said if the City Council approves the budget today, including the money for the police station, Moore can always go back and ask for an amendment to the budget or simply take no action on moving forward with the project. The mayor would have to sign any contracts associated with building a new police station, Long said.

Harvey said with 26 employees, including 20 full-time officers, he has enough staff. Starting salary for a police officer is $16 per hour.

The proposed budget includes $72,000 for three new police cars, $12,000 for a new interviewing system and $9,000 for tactical vest panels, Hudlow said.

The department is asking to replace its interview recording system.

"There's nothing like interviewing to go back to check it and find out it didn't record, so you have to go back and do it again," Harvey said.

The eight tactical vest panels are for the heavier vests used by the eight officers who are assigned to SWAT situations.

The department generally replaces a few vehicles each year as the cars get older and gain miles, Harvey said. The department has enough cars in its fleet, he said. Each full-time officer has a car, and Harvey usually keeps two cars on standby and one for a reserve officer.

Metro on 12/10/2018

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