With little public notice, Marion council sets site, cost for new police station

A site and set a pricetag have been set for Marion's new police station in a process the city's new mayor says should have had more public input.

“We were all appalled,” said Allen “Snooks” Bouska. “We need a lot better communication with the public.”

Still, the city council voted unanimously Thursday night to exchange city-owned property for a parcel at 6300 N. Gateway Dr., in a business park near the Marion Airport. Owner Wayne Engle has agreed to swap the two-acre lot, with an assessed value of $69,366, for land the city owns near the present police and fire stations, City Manager Lon Pluckhahn said.

The council also voted to spend up to $12 million on the project to replace the 1983 structure at 3911 Katz Dr.

Bouska and three new council members took office Tuesday. Bouska said he and they weren't aware the key vote on the project was on Thursday night's agenda until shortly before the meeting – too late for a  public hearing.

“We didn't do prior public hearings on it, but it was discussed several times,” said Pluckhahn. “It's been on radar screen as a project for the past four years.”

Bouska said the choice was all but made by the previous council.

“The previous council is deep into the budget process, and then there's an election, and there's four new people,” said Bouska, who during the campaign advocated building an addition to the current police station. “The rationale is money's cheap, lets get it now.”

Bouska and Pluckhahn agree there will be opportunities for public input during the design process.

“We want to make the process as transparent as we can,” said Pluckhahn.

Pluckhahn said it will take 14 to 16 months to complete the new station's design and construction.  The city hired Wilson Estes Police Architects of Kansas City, Mo., for the project.

“We have to define our specifications for a police station, and we have to have it designed,” said Pluckhahn.

The project is being structured as a lease-purchase agreement to give the city more control over the selection of contractor, Pluckhahn said. Instead of issuing bonds and receiving the cash up-front, the contractor will retain ownership of the building until it's finished and turned over to the city in a “turnkey” contract.

The city will issue bonds when the building is finished to fund the purchase. The lease-purchase process means the builder won't be hired through the conventional bidding process.

“This is a highly specialized type of construction,” Pluckhahn said. “We can't be assured the lowest responsible bidder is going to have the experience for this.”

The city council has approved ballot language devoting some of the city's local-option sales tax revenue for the project if the tax passes in the March 6 referendum, Pluckhahn said.

The council also approved issuing $14.2 million in general-obligation bonds for ongoing street and sewer improvements.