Puyallup voters to be asked to raise taxes to pay for new public safety building
The Puyallup City Council will put plans for a new public safety building before voters this year.
Discussions of a new police station and jail have repeatedly surfaced over the past 10 years. The council hired a consultant, Mackenzie, more than a year ago to design a new “justice center” to hold the court, jail and police department.
In August, the firm presented the council with plans for a center in South Hill, costing $93 million.
The council asked to review additional options, and the firm presented the council three alternative options on Jan. 14, but the South Hill site appears to be the preferred option.
To finance the building, Puyallup is expected to ask voters for a bond. If approved, a 30-year bond would cost a $350,000 Puyallup home $20 a month, financial director Barbara Lopez said.
Council member Cyndy Jacobsen said she was hesitant of “fancy” design plans for a public safety building and wanted the “Toyota Corolla” version. She said the firm has convinced her that the plan was a good value.
“I’m ready to pull the trigger on this,” Jacobsen said at the Jan. 14 meeting.
Police officials said the building they now occupy has a leaky roof and that they have run out of space for a growing department. There is so little storage, deputy chief Dave McDonald said, the department has rented storage units for lost items and equipment and is using a nearby credit union for office space.
The station currently has 15 parking spots for 69 officers, Capt. Dan Pashon said.
Alternative sites
The city paid more than $67,000 to Mackenzie for research, designs and a presentation on the additional options, according to correspondence between the firm and the department.
The three options presented to the council include renovating the current police department building and jail, rebuilding the current facility, and attaching the public safety to the lot behind City Hall on 2nd Street southeast.
A Mackenzie architect, Brett Hanson, told the council trying to build on the current site was a “nonstarter,” because the building is too old and the jail is not up to standards. Neither of the plans for using the current lot would be big enough for a court.
The estimated costs for a public safety building attached to City Hall would be $128 million, more than the South Hill plans.
Council members mostly agreed that the South Hill site is best.
The South Hill option
The consulting firm has gone back to the drawing board a couple times at behest of the council, shaving off square feet and dollars. The initial price tag was $104 million, reduced to $97 million and most recently to $93 million. Door said the city has gone through a diligent process.
“It is essential that we are good stewards of the taxpayer dollars and that the taxpayers are assured that the final proposal has been thoroughly vetted for efficiencies and enhanced public safety,” Door told The Herald in an email.
The three-story building between Fourth Street Northwest and 15th Street Southeast would be 81,425 square feet. The first floor would be below-grade secure parking with a basement for evidence, the K-9 kennels and an armory. The ground floor would house the police department, with the jail and courtrooms on the top floor.
Puyallup’s municipal court, currently on the first floor of a shared building at 929 E. Main, is not ideal and could benefit from a secured parking lot, The Herald wrote in 2016.
Police also have secure parking behind the building. Total secure parking would be 90 stalls with an additional 100 public parking spots. The jail would grow from its current 50 beds to between 80 and 100 beds.
The South Hill site would take about two years to complete, Hanson told the council.
If the South Hill site moves forward, designs include adding a “substation” in City Hall for four officers and in order to offer continual presence of police downtown. The firm presented plans for a substation that would hold the traffic unit, an office, a conference room and a space to write reports or talk to victims and witnesses.
Chief Scott Engle said residents have voiced concern over the fact that officers would no longer be downtown if the station was moved.
“A downtown substation represents our commitment to downtown residents,” Engle told the council Jan. 14.
In the next three months, the council will decide on a site (Feb. 11), the length and cost of a bond (Feb. 25), when voters can expect to vote on the bond (March 10), and a final review and wrap-up (March 31).
This story was originally published January 20, 2020 at 5:30 AM.
