CCB MEDIA PHOTO
Orleans Police Station
ORLEANS – With support from selectmen and the town finance committee, the Orleans Police Department will ask taxpayers for $670,000 to fund an architectural, engineering, and design plan to replace its outdated police facility during town meeting on May 11, but before that, the department is inviting the public to see the building’s issues first-hand.
On Tuesday April 28 at 10:30 a.m., and Saturday May 1 at 12:30 p.m., residents can tour the station that was built in 1966 and was originally a joint police/fire station.
The station was retrofitted in 1989 when a separate facility was built for the fire department.
In recent years the building has begun showing its age with a litany of problems, according to police.
“We’ve had several floods. We’ve had leaks. We’ve had air quality issues where we’ve had to run air purifiers constantly,” said Orleans Police Chief Scott MacDonald.
In addition, according to MacDonald, the building electrical system is underpowered, holding cells are not up to code, and because the building as a whole was not built as a police station, the interior workflow is insufficient.
In recent years the department has continuously spent money to keep the station up and running, and it’s now considered a futile effort, MacDonald said.
“We’re throwing a lot of money at a building that’s essentially falling apart. We’re trying to maintain it to get by, but it’s not a good investment,” said MacDonald.
Insufficient voter support in 2008 tabled the issue until now, and while MacDonald hopes the project will move forward, he understands the hesitation from taxpayers, considering the numbers involved.
“We’re asking a lot from our taxpayers, and it’s important that we bring a responsible project forward and that’s something that’s been important to us since the very beginning of this project,” said MacDonald.
Whether voters move the project forward, MacDonald says the dispatch console, an integral piece to the department and public safety, is failing and needs to be replaced, and that alone will cost approximately $140,000.
Despite the expense, which includes a building cost upwards of $10 million, the Police Station Building Committee, which was formed in November 2014, has concluded that demolishing the current facility and raising a new building in its place is the most cost-effective solution the town has.
If voters approve funding for the new design plan, construction could begin as soon as summer of 2016 and could be completed by 2017.
Orleans Town Meeting will be held May 11 at 6:30 p.m. at the Nauset Regional Middle School auditorium.
