Reservations on police station's cost

Despite repeated statements by various town and police officials that a new police station will cost between $13 million and $15 million, one Watertown councilor says the true cost will be much higher.

The project, which has been the subject of years of talks and some contentious public infighting among Watertown officials, seemed to reach a milestone last week, when the nine-member Town Council voted, 8-0, to approve borrowing $14.2 million to pay for building a new facility.

District A Councilor Angeline Kounelis voted present, saying she is concerned taxpayers don't have a good sense of what the true cost of the station will be over the coming years. Once interest payments and other contingencies are factored in, the station will cost $22 million by the time it is paid for in 2029, she said.

Kounelis said she also worries that the West End location of the new headquarters would put it too far from the center of town, and slow police response times to emergency calls from the East End, a large, congested area with lots of multifamily houses, a nursing home and two shopping malls. She's asked the town manager for a report on how police intend to address this situation.

"I am not against the Police Department," said Kounelis. "We certainly need a new police station. But this is going to be a harness on the taxpayers of Watertown for the next 20 years, since there are other projects that we as a community would like to pursue which also need to be bonded."

Noting the need for road and sidewalk repairs, a parking garage in Watertown Square, traffic and streetscape work to Coolidge Square, and artificial turf for Victory Field, Kounelis said, "I think we've maxed out our credit line and we seriously have to look at the impact this bonding proposal will have on our community."

Of the other large-scale municipal building projects completed in the last 14 years, including work to all five local schools, the new Department of Public Works facility, and town library, the police station will be the most expensive undertaking and the only project that will not receive state assistance, or other outside funding to soften the cost to taxpayers.

"That's probably why it's last on the list" of major building projects to begin, said Councilor at Large Mark Sideris, the council's vice president, noting that the project has been in the planning stages for close to a decade.

Sideris, who also sits on the council's Police Building Committee and serves as chairman of its Committee on Budget and Fiscal Oversight, added, "Every city and town needs to borrow money to do their capital improvements. This is one we needed to do. It's going to serve the needs of the department for many years."

Sideris said the town looked closely at different ways to rein in the cost of the project, and weighed carefully the idea of rehabilitating an old building versus starting brand new, but found that renovation would not save money.

Though he voted in favor of borrowing the money, the council's president, Clyde L. Younger, said it's important the public get "truth in lending" when big projects are considered, so residents know what they're really paying for. He said the town has a very good bond rating and will benefit from low interest rates.

And while there's been little public outcry over the station since 2005, when location was the subject of acrimonious council debates, Younger said that doesn't mean everyone is on board, especially in today's bleak economic climate.

"I think things are so far down the line, there's no stopping it one way or another," said Younger.

Police Chief Edward Deveau was on vacation last week and unavailable for comment, and phone calls to Town Manager Michael Driscoll for comment were not returned.

Now that the money has been allocated, the project's general contractor is scheduled to meet with town officials on Thursday to provide them with the project timeline, including a planned demolition of the old Browne School, where the headquarters is to be built, said Sideris. Groundbreaking will happen next month, he said.