North Liberty moves forward with new police station

NORTH LIBERTY - The City of North Liberty took the next step toward its goal of building a new police station during Tuesday night's city council meeting.

North Liberty City Administrator Ryan Heiar said the council on Tuesday approved a resolution amending the plan for the North Liberty Urban Renewal Area, where the proposed police station would be built.

'Every meeting is kind of a step forward,” Heiar said.

Also on Tuesday, the city council set a hearing for June 27 to hear public comment on a proposal to borrow up to $5 million in general obligation bonds to fund construction of a new station, Heiar said. No tax increment financing will be used on the project, he added.

Local architecture firm Shive-Hattery is evaluating two options for the station - a 10,000-square-foot facility and a 15,000-square-foot facility and what the city would get out of those two options. Heiar said the anticipated difference in cost between those two options is about $1 million.

'Based on comments from the city council, I suspect the 15,000-square-foot facility will be the one we go with,” Heiar said. 'At the rate we're going, we want to think long term.”

Actual designs for the station would be approved at a later date.

The city in March approved a proposed timeline to move the police department out of its current facility at 5 E. Cherry St. - a 2,600-square-foot former farm house - and into a new station to be built at the intersection of Cherry and Main streets. City officials hope to be moved into the new facility by May 2019.

Police Chief Diane Venenga has said the department has outgrown its station, which lacks appropriate meeting, storage and parking space for the 20-member department and records staff. The police department hosted tours of the station to give citizens a sense of the limitations the facility presented.

Heiar said about 50 people took the tours and he has yet to hear from anyone who disagrees about the need for a new station.

'Once people see the facility we're in now, they understand the need for a new station,” he said. 'I can honestly say I haven't heard any negative comments about the project. We just haven't heard from those folks.”

Under the city's proposed timeline for the new station, construction would begin next May.

The City Council also approved entering into an agreement with Des Moines-based Moulder and Associates Police Consultants to search for a new fire chief following the resignation of former Chief Eric Vandewater in November 2016. The search will begin immediately, Heiar said.

'Our hope is the whole process is wrapped up in three months,” he said.

Bill Schmooke, a longtime member of the fire department, has been serving as interim fire chief since Vandewater's departure.

'He's very dedicated to the service,” Heiar said. 'We've been fortunate just to have him serving as a leader of the department.”

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