MONMOUTH — Police Chief Kevin Mulherin takes a look at the equipment piled on the table and the uniforms slung from the portable hanger and shrugs his shoulders in frustration. This is the space where his officers are supposed to interview people, but right now those interviews have to happen somewhere else, anywhere there happens to be a little more room. In an office with only 1,000 square feet, none of which can be given over to storage, that often means anywhere but the police station.
“If you’re doing an interview, that’s a distraction,” Mulherin said. “Usually you would have your table and two chairs, and that’s it.”
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Tight quarters, limited parking and monthly rent have dogged the department since moving into its space at 767 Main St. eight years ago. Town officials hope to alleviate all that Nov. 4 when voters will be asked to spend $50,000 from surplus to renovate the former Monmouth Rescue Association building — which is just down the road from the police station — into a new permanent home for the police department.
Mulherin said the expenditure would not cause a tax increase and would rid the town of the $10,300 in yearly lease payments to A&B Johnson Properties, which owns the building that houses the current police department. The rent, based on the consumer price index, could go up every year, Mulherin said.
“They’re really good people to rent from,” Mulherin said.
The current space is marked by minor distractions, Mulherin said. The employees of Don’s Electric, which rents space above the police department, can be clearly heard walking across the floor overhead. The back wall of the department is a common wall to a storage building. Moving equipment in and out of the storage area reverberates through the police department.
“It’s functional right now, but there’s room for improvement up there,” Mulherin said “It’s obviously going to be better, no matter how you look at it. And it’s a savings to the town.”
The rescue association, which ceased operations in January, donated the building to the town. Winthrop took over ambulance service for Monmouth after the nonprofit rescue association announced a drop in calls, a staffing shortage and pay reductions no longer made it possible to operate.
The building, constructed in 1978 mostly with donated materials, rests on a town lot that includes the town office, said Town Manager Curtis Lunt. Its location, at 847 Main St., is just north of the current police station. Mulherin said the new location would have no impact on officers’ ability to monitor the downtown.
The rescue building, at 1,200 square feet, is only slightly bigger than the police department’s current office, but it has a large loft for top-side storage space, ample parking and lots of room to expand, Lunt said.
“We’re really pleased to see it stay a public safety building,” he said. “It’s a great re-use.”
Lunt said town officials believed at some point the town would have to build a police station adjacent to the town office. The cost of that project likely would have reached $250,000. Selectmen have unanimously recommended spending the $50,000 to convert the rescue station.
“This will save us a lot of money,” Lunt said. “This will pay for itself in a few years.”
Nearly half of the $50,000 request is to convert the heating system, which currently is supplied by a large hot-air furnace installed in 1978.
“It might have been used when it was installed,” said Code Enforcement Officer David Shaw, who will oversee the renovations. Shaw said he hopes to convert at least half of the building into radiant heat, which would cut down on fuel costs.
The remaining money would go toward renovating the building, including converting the two garage bays into office space for Mulherin and his officers, which includes three full-time and 10 part-time officers. Plans also call for an interview room, a kitchen area and a lobby attached to an office area where the administrative assistant will work and greet the arriving public. There also will be increased storage on the office level.
“That’s one thing we lack at the current building,” Mulherin said.
Shaw believes the renovations can be completed for $50,000.
“We’ve gotten budget numbers that seem to fit,” he said.
Mulherin said state law requires police to keep certain documents and files, which adds to the storage woes. The department has items stored at various town properties, including public works.
“We’ve got a little bit everywhere,” Mulherin said.
But space is not only at a premium on the inside. Mulherin said the current lease gives the police department three parking spaces, which can be used by the department’s three cruisers. There is little paved parking for visitors.
“We get a lot of elderly people coming in for various reasons,” Mulherin said. “This is no handicap parking.”
The renovations are expected to be completed within a few weeks of the vote, provided voters approve the ballot question. The hope is to have the department in the new space by at least the end of the year.
Mulherin, who served with the Auburn Police Department when it relocated, said the most time consuming part of the process is transferring the evidence stored on site. Each piece will have to be logged out of the existing building and logged into the new.
“Everything else is just a matter of boxing it up and bringing it down,” Mulherin said.
The police department moved to its current spot eight years ago after moving from a house that was situated alongside the rescue station. That house was condemned and torn down because of mold, Lunt said.
“We’re trying to find them a place to be a permanent home,” he said.
Craig Crosby — 621-5642
Twitter: @CraigCrosby4
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