Alexandria council approves contract for new police facility
By: David Sherfinski
Examiner Staff Writer
March 12, 2009
The Alexandria City Council this week approved a construction contract that would pave the way for a new police department headquarters facility.
Following the money
Project budget
(in millions of dollars)
Item CIP Budget Feb. 19
Construction 57.4 55.5*
Furniture, etc. 4.0 3.0
Technology 19.7 19.7
Total 81.1 78.2
*guaranteed maximum-price contract
Source: Alexandria city government
The plan, which has been in the works for the past five years, would allow the city to consolidate police operations from four locations, according to county documents.
A $55.5 million construction contract is to be awarded under City Manager James Hartmann’s recommendation — $2.9 million less than the funds budgeted for the construction in the City Capital Improvement Program. Hartmann recommended that the $2.9 million be held in a contingency fund for the project, and could be used for other projects if not needed.
“This is less money than we put in the CIP — that’s great,” said Councilman Rob Krupicka.
Councilman Paul Smedberg, though, expressed some concern with the contingency fund, noting that the city has a lot of immediate needs in terms of infrastructure projects.
“That’s a lot of projects, potentially,” he said of the $2.9 million.
“It just seems like we have an awful lot of money to be set aside when we have immediate needs,” he continued. “How are we going to justify [that] to the public?”
Hartmann, though, recommended moving forward with the project, and returning to it later, if need be.
“A year from now, we’re going to know better where we are,” he said. “We should not need any scope changes in this project. … I think it’s very prudent for us not to spend the money now.”
Councilman Justin Wilson cited a county memo that projected that there would be an approximate $100 million savings for county taxpayers over the next four decades by owning the land, rather than leasing it. That memo, from Hartmann to the city council, quotes the city’s real estate consultants, Jones Lang LaSalle, who predicted that at the end of 40 years, the cost of owning the property would be $42.4 million, while leasing the land would cost about $146 million, based on today’s projections.
Construction on the project is slated to start in April.
