GILROY
– Final cost estimates are still pending for Gilroy’s new police
station, but members of the City Council have almost unanimously
defended the ballpark cost and process used to plan the building
that was previously estimated to cost roughly $19 million.
GILROY – Final cost estimates are still pending for Gilroy’s new police station, but members of the City Council have almost unanimously defended the ballpark cost and process used to plan the building that was previously estimated to cost roughly $19 million.
“Every single one of these items was reviewed for cost-benefit and deemed to be of value to the community,” said Mayor Tom Springer on the design features and amenities for the new headquarters. “We thought it was all worthwhile.”
Last month city officials said rising material costs and problems with sewer lines would cause the cost of the 49,000-square-foot building to climb above previous estimates of $19.2 million, but did not release or quote specific figures.
Thursday, City Manager Jay Baksa said the city is still working on final cost estimates, which will be released in the city’s capital projects budget in coming weeks.
“We’re working on it,” he said.
The new station at 7301 Hanna St. is slated to more than double the size of the existing 1960s-era 19,000-square-foot structure. Features outlined so far have included a temporary jail, a 1,500-square-foot meeting room, a similar-sized fitness and training room and a clock tower that will enclose radio antennas.
Since Council approved the conceptual design and cost estimate of the building, officials have been engaged in a lengthy final design process as well as “value engineering,” Baksa said, which means certain features may change based on reasons like cost and ability to manage space. Some proposed features – such as an exercise path – have been eliminated.
“Until the final design is put together, one really never knows what the final costs will be,” he said. “You don’t get a final cost until you get to this stage in the process.”
Noting that the final price isn’t out yet – and there may be things officials have to “tweak” – Councilman Roland Velasco said Wednesday that he’s generally supportive of the station.
“I’m looking toward the future and a station that’s going to be meeting the highest of the highest standards,” Velasco said. “That’s going to cost money.”
Councilman Al Pinheiro said he’s not adverse to examining the building, but will need to see more concrete information to emerge before casting judgment one way or the other.
“I’m not adverse to taking a look, regrouping to make sure things have not gotten out of hand,” he said. “But I’m not going to pass judgment until I get the details.”
Pinheiro said officials need to be fiscally responsibile and can’t take “an open checkbook” approach to public facilities. But he also noted that the new building has been in the planning process for a long time, with significant attention and opportunities for community input.
“It hasn’t been done in a vacuum,” he said.
And Pinheiro and other officials also said they believe building a larger station now – with interior spaces that could be occupied in the future – will be less expensive than adding on or building additional structures in the future. The station is designed to meet the city’s needs for at least two decades.
“It’s a lot cheaper to build it today than to build a second building 10 years from now,” Baksa said.
Springer stressed the station will be built entirely through impact fees levied on new development in the city, which are limited to uses such as new capital construction and equipment. The station will not tap money from the General Fund, the more discretionary pool of funding that relies on funding from things like sales and property taxes.
“There’s not a single penny of General Fund tax money going into that,” Springer said. “None of it can be used to solve the budget crunch.”
While preliminary cost estimates for a 43,000-square-foot police station in Morgan Hill have emerged at roughly $8.4 million, Gilroy officials said it’s not so easy to compare the city with its northern neighbor. Several employed the term “apples and oranges.”
Morgan Hill doesn’t have the same problems – and level of services – that Gilroy does, noted Councilman Charlie Morales.
“I have to respect every city for what they’re going through, but our city is different than Morgan Hill, even though we have some similarities,” he said.
Officials noted Morgan Hill has not settled on a site, and is also considering space in an industrial area. GIlroy’s station is in the city’s core and part of an overall civic center complex that also includes city hall, library, community and senior centers that lies in the midst of a residential area, they said.
The decision to approve an underground parking garage was made in light of overall location in that complex, Gilroy officials said.
Springer said staging parking elsewhere, such as on land next door to the building, could interfere with expansion of the city’s senior center and cause the city to target other residences or buildings. Underground parking is also more secure for storage and to load and unload offenders, he said.
“We have to take a responsibility for the impact of parking, especially since we’re adjacent to a residential area,” Baksa said. Aesthetic considerations are also important for that reason, he said.
There are solid reasons behind other building features, officials said.
For instance, Springer said the exercise room is not a full gymnasium, and was provided to help officers meet enhanced fitness standards and train for self-defense. He said police would have to purchase their own weights or equipment.
“This is probably a tenth of the size of a gym,” Baksa added.
Officials also said the exercise track was not a full-sized affair like the kind to be found at Gilroy High, calling it “a small 1/8-mile track on top of existing cement decking.”
The process of planning the new station has taken over four years, Baksa said.
“It was all analyzed from a functional, service and cost point of view,” he said. “When you add up all three, the building being built here met the best of all of them.”
Cost increases aren’t unusual – and the price tag rarely goes down, said Councilman Bob Dillon.
“You get caught by unintended consequences,” he said. “Try building a house in two years for what it costs now.”
