New Washington Police evidence building’s price tag to top $2M

WASHINGTON (25News Now) – Construction of the Washington Police Department’s new evidence building could begin soon, depending on a vote from the city council.

The police department has been asking for a new building for five years. The current facility is deemed “unusable” and has been closed due to a fire there earlier this year.

Police Chief Mike McCoy said the department needs this new building sooner than later, as the government spends $2,000 a month renting a building in East Peoria to store evidence.

“We have to transport every piece of evidence we get every day down to this new location, then come back,” McCoy said. “That takes one of our officers out of Washington to East Peoria to deliver the evidence.”

Washington Mayor Gary Manier said the contract will likely go to the lowest bidder, contractor PJ Hoerr.

The new building in a lot behind the fire department would cost $2.3 million. Some $900,000 in grant money would help fund the project.

The rest of the money would come from city budget reserves and leftover pandemic relief money. Overall, the city will spend $600,000 on the project.

“$372,000 of that would come out of general funds, so the council still has a week and this next week to discuss it, and then a week after, it’ll probably go to a vote,” Manier said.

Chief McCoy said the new building will be a bare bones design compared to the original plan that totaled at around $5 million. He said the revised estimate was $1.9 million, but costs continue to rise.

“The costs are going up per year for building equipment 15%, 18%, and now they’ve been going up 20%, 25% a year,” McCoy said. “So, our costs that we originally proposed were about $1.9 million, is now about $2.3 million.”

Manier said the next step is to vote on a city budget amendment. The mayor said although it’s concerning to change the budget one month into it, he doesn’t believe it will have a negative impact on the city.

“We haven’t really spent our budget every year,” Manier said. “I think if you look at that, I think we’re not really going to do away with services or have to postpone till the next fiscal year.”

McCoy said once the new building is finished, the police department will be able to run more efficiently.

“This is all going to be barcoded now, so when a piece of evidence comes in, [it gets] assigned a barcode, and you just zap it, and in and out,” McCoy said. “It’ll reduce the time the police have to deal with it, [and it will] also reduce the time our evidence technicians will have to get it recorded, in and out, and in a safe place.”

The council will meet as a committee-of-the-whole to discuss the project Monday, June 10. Mayor Manier said the council will likely vote on the budget amendment a week later on Monday, June 17, in addition to hiring the contractor.

You can watch 25News – any newscast, anywhere – streaming LIVE on 25NewsNow.com, our 25News mobile app, and on our WEEK 25News SmartTV streaming app. Learn more about how you can get connected to 25News streaming live news here.

Copyright 2024 WEEK. All rights reserved.