City councilmen, police administrators and city officials
expressed shock and surprise that bids to build a new Gilroy police
station were significantly higher than predicted.
We’re not.
City councilmen, police administrators and city officials expressed shock and surprise that bids to build a new Gilroy police station were significantly higher than predicted.
We’re not.
We were surprised when the police station’s price was $19 million and no one in a position of authority questioned that bloated price tag.
We were surprised when the price spiraled to an estimated $25 million and yet city leaders blindly pressed forward, sending the project out to bid – even while staring an impact fee study dead in the eye that could finger building impact fees for police services as illegally high.
So, we’re not surprised that the trend of this folly-filled project to build a new Gilroy police station for near $27,000,000 has continued now that three bids have been submitted. The fact that the three bids for the project were all close tells us that the companies have considered carefully what it will cost to build the police station as designed.
And that means – as we said a few months ago – that it’s time to take this project back to the drawing board, before any more time, energy, money and effort are wasted on it.
The city needs to start with a number that it can afford to spend on this project – we think $15 million would be a reasonable absolute ceiling – and then determine what it can build for that price.
No more underground parking garage for the exclusive use of city workers? Then they’ll have to walk in the beautiful Gilroy climate like regular citizens.
No more community meeting room in the police department? Then they’ll have to use the nearby facilities at Wheeler Community Center and the Gilroy Senior Center.
No workout room for police officers? Nearby facilities at the Wheeler Community Center will have to do.
It’s time for some fresh ideas and scaled-back expectations for this out-of-control project.
We won’t be surprised when the police station proposals and price tags – and the lack of leadership and fiscal prudence on the part of the current city council – are big issues in this November’s election.
Even though Gilroy leaders are fond of pointing out that the cost of building a new police station will be paid by police impact fees, and like to claim that those aren’t taxes, we all know that they are.
Although the police impact fee incurred by a new home is paid by a check written by a developer, the developer is not a charity, and has passed that cost along to the Gilroyan who purchased the home – a Gilroy taxpayer.
We encourage City Councilmen to keep their duty to Gilroy taxpayers in mind and build a fiscally responsible police station. That can only be done with a fresh start at the drawing board with a strict budget limit in place.
