EDITORIAL: ‘Shocking number’ demands second look at public safety building

A contract committing taxpayers to what would likely be the biggest capital expenditure in the history of Port Washington sneaked into a Common Council meeting last week.

Aldermen didn’t know it was coming until a few days before the meeting. They were given no information on the impact on city borrowing limits and property taxes, yet they were asked to approve a contract for the design of a public safety building that would cost a staggering $35 million.

The council members were merely under informed. The taxpayers who would have to foot the bill were left totally in the dark.

The word “shocking” was repeated by several aldermen at the May 7 General Government and Finance Committee meeting where the $35 million number suddenly appeared and at the council meeting that followed it. The council then voted to postpone action on the contract until obvious questions are answered.

One of the questions is the impact on the city’s credit. Finance Director Mark Emanuelson pointed out that financing the $35 million project would take the city close to its statutory borrowing limit.

No less important is the impact on taxpayers. What are the projections for tax rate increases tied to servicing and repaying the debt? How will this affect the city’s ability to deal with other priorities under state levy limits?

Those answers are dependent on the cost of the project. Does it really have to be a breathtaking $35 million? That question should be asked and answered before the council votes on a public safety building contact.

The fact that Port Washington needs a new fire station is not in dispute. The decades-old downtown firehouse is too small for modern-day equipment and unsuited for the current era of 24/7 staffing with paid firefighters and paramedics. The adjacent police station is serviceable for now, but it makes sense to explore whether it is economically beneficial to replace it with space in a building shared with the fire department.

Members of the Police and Fire Commission and elected officials have been talking about a new fire station for a long time, but from a financial standpoint, the journey to $35 million has been lightning fast.

In 2021, the cost was pegged at $5 million. Less than a year ago, at an August 2023 meeting, Council members were told the cost of a combined police and fire safety building would be $10 million to $15 million.

So last week, as Ald. Deb Postl put it, “To see $35 million was a shock.”

At the same meeting, Ald. Jonathan Pleitner said it was “the first time we’ve seen that $35 million number.” He described it as a “big shocking number.”

The number grew out of talks by a working group comprised of chiefs and officers of the fire and police departments, the chairman of the Police and Fire Commission, city staff members and Aldermen Dan Benning and Paul Neumyer.

Based on the group’s recommendations, the city hired Bray Architects last year to study the need for a fire and police building and propose solutions. The result was a proposal that arrived with that “big shocking number” for a two-story building at the intersection of Highways 33 and LL that would house all of the departments’ equipment and vehicles, offices, living space for full-time paramedics, EMTs and firefighters, a fitness center, a municipal courtroom and public meeting space.

When Bray was retained, Tony Brown, the city administrator at the time, said the firm’s job would be “determining the actual needs of the two departments and seeing what the city can afford.”

If and how the city can afford a $35 million building has not been explained, but it certainly should be before the council acts on a contract for the final design.

June 4 has been mentioned as the meeting date when the Council will reconsider the contract. That seems hasty. More time may be  needed to make a realistic assessment of what the city and its taxpayers can afford and, if it is not $35 million, then how the project can be scaled down and still meet current and foreseeable needs.

Aldermen were told at last week’s meeting that delaying the project would inevitably increase its costs.

Of course they were. That’s the automatic knee-jerk response when delaying a project is suggested, but it isn’t always true. In the likely event that savings can be found, the public safety building will cost less than $35 million. That should be the goal.