Bay City City Council will review a list of properties owned by the city for possible locations for a new public safety building as part of its regular meeting Nov. 2.
“I was just informed that the Bay City CDC has leased out a portion of the building we were looking at renovating and relocating the police department,” said City Manager Shawna Burkhart.
“Perhaps we should move forward on another building or purchasing some land and building our own.”
“I’m just here to get direction on what council wants to do,” said BCPD Chief Robert Lister.
“At the time, I know the remodel would cost about $8.8 million,” Lister added.
“When looking at building something brand new, it’s about the same with the cost of land – if we don’t use something the city owns already,” the chief said.
Lister added that the project could be scaled down and cost less since the Bay City Volunteer Fire Department did not want to join PD at the new building.
“The fire department has said they are happy where they are at,” he explained.
“Without including them now, we can work on this project at a smaller scale.”
Burkhart agreed that the city would vet other parcels once new specifications were made.
“We’ve looked at the old Blockbuster strip center, but, the owner wants about $2 million for it,” she added.
“We also know that it needs and asbestos abatement and a lot of work.”
“That’s true, even though I heard that we could possibly knock that price down to just a little over $1 million,” said Lister.
“Even if we wanted to tear the whole thing down it would still need the abatement and the parking lot is a mess.
“There’s a lot of work to be done with that building to meet our needs and I think we might be better off looking elsewhere or building our own,” Lister pointed out.
Other sites considered were the old Kmart building on Baywood Drive and a site off of Nile Valley Road via a land purchase.
City Council member Floyce Brown expressed concerns for student safety if the new police station were to be located close to the new Linnie Roberts elementary campus at 4100 Hiram Brandon Drive.
“You’ve got to consider these children walking to and from school,” she said.
“What happens if there’s an emergency and school’s just let out and there’s traffic?”
“Like with anything, we’ll work through it,” said Lister.
“School traffic is only twice a day and we can work that out just like we’ve done with the trains cutting us off in town. We’re used to working around traffic.”
“I just want you to keep that in mind since it wasn’t something we originally discussed when we heard about this project,” added Brown.
“It’s your job to serve and protect and that includes our children.”
“I know that it’s on our five-year plan, but, we don’t have to pull the trigger on it now,” said Mayor Pro Tem Jason Childers.
“We need to be strategic with this. Maybe we can look at it in a workshop with a list of the available properties the city has?”
“A workshop sounds like a great idea and we can discuss it in executive session then,” added Mayor Robert Nelson.
In other news, council also approved:
N A one-year contract renewal with EPIC Aviation, LLC as a fuel provider for the Bay City Regional Airport.
N Amending the city code of ordinances relating to the use of motor-assisted scooters.
N Appointing Julie Estlinbaum as Chairman of the Board for TIRZ one and two with Kent Pollard as the alternate.
N A deed agreement with Dunn Heat Exchangers for a new city lift station with an improved access road as part of the Texas Water Development Board funded $20.3 million water improvement projects.
