Lanesborough Police Station Committee Tours Current Police Building
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — After establishing goals for the estimated $3.8 million new police building project at its first meeting on Tuesday, the newly-formed Police Station Committee conducted a tour of the current police building to examine its many issues.
Police Chief Robert Derksen pointed out several deficiencies with the structure, including its size, lack of privacy, mold presence, and the lack of insulation and proper air conditioning. Many of these issues, he said, are due to the age of the structure.
"It's been a lot of things over the years. I think it's from around 1827," he said. "It was a school; it was an ambulance garage."
The estimated $3.8 million price for the new station came in February from Jacunski & Humes Architects, which has created two previous plans for the structure. The committee will be meeting with Humes to discuss the proposed designs at next week's meeting.
Board of Selectmen Chair John Goerlach was present for the walkthrough and the discussion by the committee that followed. He said state Rep. John Barrett III recently visited the station.
"He's going to try and work on a grant," Goerlach said.
Committee Chair Kristen Tool said seeing the current station was helpful and is confident they can find grant funding for the new building.
"[The new station] is going to meet the needs of the community," she said. "This building not only does not meet the needs of the community, it's not safe for community members to go in there. It does not meet the needs of our officers."
Committee member Bill Calderwood suggested several ways to lower the new station's $3.8 million estimated cost. He said some cost-saving measures are needed if the committee wants to decrease the price.
"You can't just cross out one line item. You got to get 5 percent of this one and 4 percent of that one and 10 percent out of this one. You got to make some concessions," he said.
The committee expects construction to begin within the next 18 months if it keeps pace with its goals. Town Administrator Joshua Lang said the committee must conduct a request for proposals for a project manager.
Derksen acknowledged that cost limits what is possible with the new station but said if the cost was not an issue, he would opt for a training room in the new station. He previously spoke to the Finance Committee about new state training regulations for officers and said hosting training would benefit the town.
Former Police Chief Tim Sorrell said there is no similar training facility anywhere in the county.
"There is no dedicated training room in the county for anything," Sorrell said. "We've been so desperate we've used Berkshire Hills, we use the armory . . . you're scraping to find locations."
The committee also discussed the need for a temporary station while construction of the new station is ongoing, proposing several potential solutions. Derksen said he is willing to consider any option.
"I'm open to everything," he said. "I would love to be able to rent a place in town if I have to be in a temporary location."
The committee will discuss potential locations for a temporary facility again at its meeting next week. The committee will hold a joint meeting with the Board of Selectmen on Monday.
Tags: police station,
