AUGUSTA — Three residents elected to the City Council in November, but who won’t take office until their terms start in January, may join the debate now on whether, and where, a new Augusta police station should be built.
City administrators propose to replace the current, run-down station, which they said has a leaky roof, inadequate ventilation, undrinkable tap water and windows that are failing, does not meet current codes and lacks adequate security, with a new police station.
City Manager William Bridgeo said there is some urgency to move forward with the project, both due to concerns about working conditions in the building as well as construction costs that have been on the rise.
However going into November’s election, the City Council was down by three members due to a run of resignations by councilors during a one-month period of the summer because they were moving out of the city. That left only five councilors and Mayor David Rollins.
The lack of councilors resulted in the proposal to build a new police station being delayed, because the city charter requires any proposal to borrow funds through a bond — as officials plan to do to pay for a new police station — be approved by an affirmative vote of at least six members of the council, including the mayor.
A rendering of what a proposed Augusta police station could look like if it was built on Water Street. The rendering was shown as part of a presentation by a pair of firms, Artifex Architects and Engineers and Manns Woodward Studios. Image courtesy of the City of Augusta
Only one of the vacant seats on the council was filled via November’s elections. Two of the vacant seats up for election in November were set to expire at the end of the year, so they were filled in a regular election of councilors, meaning they won’t take office until the previous term expires and they are sworn in, in January 2020.
Bridgeo said the city charter does not allow councilors to be sworn into office early, unless the vacancy created by a resignation on the council would be more than one year, which neither of the two remaining vacant spots would be.
One of the vacant terms on the council, however, didn’t expire until December 2020, so that was filled, also in November, in a special election to fill the remainder of the unexpired term. The winner of that seat, former City Councilor Darek Grant, was sworn in to fill that vacancy last week, at the first council meeting after the election.
So that leaves residents Heather Pouliot and Raegan LaRochelle, elected to two at-large positions, and Mike Michaud, elected to a Ward 3 seat, waiting until January to join the council. Meanwhile the council still has two vacant spots, one at-large, the other in Ward 3.
Bridgeo suggested inviting the three new councilors-elect to join in the police station discussion at Thursday night’s council meeting to determine whether a majority of the new council favors building a new police station.
“My hope is we’ll begin the process, Thursday night, of the mayor and council members currently aboard and the three who’ll be sworn-in in January making the decisions necessary to allow us to, in spring, get a question to voters so we can move forward with a much-needed replacement facility for the police department,” Bridgeo said Wednesday.
A rendering of what a proposed Augusta police station could look like if it was built on Union Street. The rendering was shown as part of a presentation by a pair of firms, Artifex Architects and Engineers and Manns Woodward Studios. Image courtesy of the City of Augusta
A key issue to be decided, with public input Bridgeo noted, is where it should be built. Officials have narrowed potential new locations for the new police station to two: one next to the current station on Union Street and the other a downtown site at the corner of Water and Laurel streets.
It would cost about $17.3 million to build on the Union Street site, according to estimates from a consultant, and about $21.5 million to build on the downtown site, including demolition of the substantial but neglected building on that site. Some, including Rollins, have said the downtown site may cost more but could also bring more benefits to the city. The mayor noted there could be economic and community development that stems from putting a new station in what some consider a blighted part of the downtown in need of a boost.
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