The Bethel Police Commission held a Public Informational Session last Thursday evening, April 9, 2015, to discuss the proposal for the revised design of the $14.1 million Bethel Police Station and to hear comments from individuals for or against the project.
Report by Paula Antolini
April 12, 2015 10:01PM EDT
The Bethel Police Commission held a Public Informational Session last Thursday evening, April 9, 2015, to discuss the proposal for the revised design of the $14.1 million Bethel Police Station and to hear comments from individuals for or against the project.
The meeting was attended by approx. 50 individuals, which included Bethel residents, some past and present town officials, the architectural design company representative, and members of the Bethel Police Department.
Bethel residents voted down the original plan in the December 9, 2014 referendum four months ago, but the new proposed plan for the police station will now cost $400,000 less. Police Chief Jeffrey Finch and Police Commission Chairman described the changes to the meeting attendees.
Some of the main changes are:
–The location (footprint) of the building on the property has been shifted to the south (towards Route 302), on the same property.
–Windows and gutters are changed to a lower cost design and quality, but are still good quality, Finch said.
–Parking area is reduced in size and cost.
–Cost of proposed shooting range has been reduced.
–Some of the exterior building materials towards the rear of the building have been changed to reflect lower cost, but not change quality or the overall visual appeal of the station.
The new Bethel Police Station will be a 25,000 square foot facility and would be built on an 8-acre property next to Bethel High School, located on Judd Avenue in Bethel CT. (Whittlesey Drive. and Route 302 border other sides of the property.) The present Police station, built in 1974, and located at 49 Plumtrees Road in Bethel, CT, is approx. 8200 square feet and lacks updated facilities, among other problems.
Numerous individuals spoke in favor of the project at the meeting. Some of the speakers were as follows:
Bethel resident Pat Rist, Chairman of the Bethel Planning and Zoning Commission spoke about the poor conditions in the police station such as undersized rooms, the gun range being used for storage, and raw sewage back up in the single shower and bathroom area. She was strongly in favor of the new facility.
Bethel Police Officer James Christos said the present building is not safe to work in. He said the equipment they need to do their work is in police headquarters, so a centrally located police station is essential. Christos said the current building was not built to do the technology at the level of work needed in the present day. He indicated that the computer server was in the copy room and wiring was unsafe. “I don’t know how the wiring did not go on fire,” he said, “Policing has changed, so those things need to change.” He gave an example of how the invention and use of car alarms then brought down car thefts, but then produced a rise in carjacking instead, because a suspect found it easier to steal a car with the keys and person in it than deal with car alarms. He stated, “If we build a lesser building, then we will have to add to it later, and that will cost more.” He offered to give a tour of the present Bethel Police Station to anyone, he said, “so they can see that the current building is inadequate.”
Bethel Resident Cynthia McCorkindale said her mother was the victim of a homicide 30 years ago. “I get it,” she said, regarding police operations. She said she was also in the police station to be fingerprinted when she was hired as a teacher, so she observed the process and needs first hand.
Bethel resident Bob Legnard, a member of the Planning and Zoning Commission, praised the police for a job well done and felt they should have the new station.
Several opponents to the project mentioned concerns about high traffic issues, or questioned the location of the building on the piece of property on Judd Avenue, that they thought could be a future sight for a school building expansion instead of a police station, as the school population increases (even though it is not part of the school property presently). One female resident did not agree that there was a population increase presently that warranted a need for a larger police station, because she just did not observe the population expansion anywhere herself.
Bethel Resident Bill Hillman requested a full disclosure of the total costs, including the demolition of the old structure and an estimated mill rate, including the likely school building costs and projected town budgets over next 5 to 10 years. He also questioned the timing of the referendum date, and did not think it was best to do it after a tax hike, soon after the town budget.
Frank Infurchia, a past Bethel Board of Education Chairman in 1996-7, was a strong opponent to the project. He was unsatisfied with the $400,000 reduction in cost and thought the total project cost should be less. He also thought the proposed Bethel Police Station should be much smaller, about 15,000 square feet, which he thought was more realistic when compared to the sizes of stations in nearby towns in Connecticut. He suggested renovating the present police station on Plumtree’s Road or building the new building there.
Police Commission Chairman Michael Duff said renovating the old station is not a possibility, due to the excessive cost of building in a flood plain, or the need to raise the floor level above flooding, which would indicate an even higher rebuilding cost. Demolition, which might also include asbestos clean up, is an extremely excessive cost too, Duff said. All these ideas would not be considered because the cost factor is expected to be more than the cost of the new $14.1 million building. “I would consider that a gross waste of money and I would not support such a project,” he said.
First Selectman Matt Knickerbocker was at the meeting and said it would likely be $25 million to renovate the present Bethel Police Station. Knickerbocker also clarified several points, one was a mistake in the paperwork regarding a comparison of cost factors. He said it was an “unfair comparison” because they were not equal in the details that were included for each, in the comparison of the buildings. He also clarified the location of the new building as being “not on the corner of Judd but in between a house and a school.” He mentioned that traffic was low, and stated, “The day shift has approximately one dozen cars after school is in session.”
Computer forensics were also discussed, because of the lack of space for testing equipment in the building. The police presently send out samples to be analyzed, Police Chief Finch said, “We didn’t do it out of pride, we did it out of necessity.” He said it takes months to get lab tests back on generic testing.
Finch said they have no juvenile holding cells should the occasion arise that they need to separate juveniles from adults in the police station at the same time, and also there is overcrowding of the adult jail cells. “The town is liable if they put two in a cell and they are injured,” he said. There are presently four adult prison cells, one is not working, he said, and there is one holding cell in another room.
“Fifteen years ago we only dispatched police officers and it was simple. Now we dispatch EMS and fire departments too” Finch said.
The Bethel Police Commission had a slide show running during the public session, showing photos of some of the present Bethel Police Station problems. Overall, Finch said there are:
–cramped space and size issues
–an outdated design
–a too-small men’s locker room
–draining and flooding problems
–technology is not sufficient
–and many more problems
There was also a display of the new project design on easels, on several boards.
(See photos below. Click on photos to view larger.)
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