Puyallup city leaders are discussing whether to move the Police Department into the four-year-old City Hall.
City Council members indicated at Tuesday night’s council meeting that they want to talk more about saving money by maximizing space at the five-story City Hall at 333 South Meridian. About 60 employees work there now.
“This (City Hall) building can’t remain as it is, with the taxpayers paying for people to have cubicles that are bigger than houses,” said Deputy Mayor John Knutsen.
Knutsen wants to direct City Manager Ralph Dannenberg to study moving the Police Department into the roughly 40,000-square-foot building. This could free up space at the police building, allowing the city to move the municipal court there and end its lease for the court building.
The city pays about $150,000 annually in rent and building operations costs for the court, Dannenberg said.
He said an outside consultant should be the one to study any potential moves. But some council members aren’t ready to take that step and want more discussion. The topic appears headed to a council retreat set for Feb. 24.
Councilman Steve Vermillion said after Tuesday’s meeting that he wants to see the city save money by moving the court into a city-owned building. That could be the current police building or another facility, he said.
“There are a lot of things that can be done,” he said. “We just need to figure out our course of action.”
The new City Hall opened in 2008 and cost roughly $38 million. It has earned praise from some city leaders and citizens as a centerpiece of a revitalized downtown.
It is home to an art gallery, a sandwich restaurant and a yogurt shop. It looks out on the new library and Pioneer Park pavilion.
Others have criticized City Hall’s size and expense.
It’s home to about a half-dozen city departments, including the city manager’s office, development services, finance and legal. City Council meetings are held in the fifth-floor council chambers. Dannenberg said the building was designed and laid out to accommodate about 70 employees.
The Police Department, located at 311 West Pioneer, is in a much older building that includes the city jail and a Central Pierce Fire & Rescue station. The Police Department uses about 13,850 square feet of the facility, which was built in 1968.
Mayor Rick Hansen said the police move is worth exploring because it could result in the court being placed by the city jail, a natural fit.
At full strength, between 32 and 37 full-time employees and volunteers are on duty for police business any given weekday. That includes corrections staff.
Puyallup Capt. Dave McDonald said police outgrew their space years ago. File cabinets are set up in hallways, and patrol officers must share two workstations to fill out reports, he said.
“For years now, we’ve been looking for the opportunity for a new building. But the economic downturn has affected us and our ability to get a new building,” McDonald said.
He said the idea of relocating to City Hall is in its infancy, and it’s too early to say whether it would work.
The municipal court uses about 6,500 square feet of leased space in a building at 929 E. Main. The court relocated there about nine years ago; Judge Stephen Shelton said it always was meant to be temporary.
“All I’ve asked for is that the court be involved in any ongoing study of where the more permanent location would be,” he said Wednesday.
Sara Schilling: 253-552-7058
sara.schilling@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/street
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