Marion ready to sign contract for new police station

The Marion City Council is set to sign a contract for the city's new police station.

The $10.4 million contract with Wisconsin-based Miron Construction is on the agenda for Tuesday's council work session session. The council meets at 4 p.m. at City Hall, 1225 Sixth Ave.

The agenda also includes a 50-year lease for the site of the new station at 6300 N. Gateway Dr., in the Marion Enterprise Center business park. City Manager Lon Pluckhahn said the site's owner Wayne Engle has agreed to a "nominal" lease for the site. Engle agreed to swap the two-acre lot for city-owned land near the current police station at 3911 Katz Dr.

The council voted in January to spend up to $12 million on a new station to replace the 1983 building.

The project is structured as a lease-purchase agreement, with the city taking possession after the building is complete. Pluckhahn said the city will issue bonds to pay for the project when it's finished, tentatively set for next fall.

Miron's contract is "right on target" with the project budget, Pluckhahn said.