During this week’s regular meeting, Basalt Town Council held a public work session to discuss updated plans for a proposed combined Public Works and Police Department building. After months of revision, planning now focuses on reducing costs in a manner that will still meet the original goals of the project.
Wold Architects and Engineers, an architecture firm specializing in public works and municipal building construction, was contracted by the Town of Basalt over a year ago to design the new building.
Wold identified issues with the police headquarters from its overall unwelcoming atmosphere to the public to a lack of secure parking, holding space for detainees and evidence storage. In terms of Public Works, its current office space is a temporary structure past its useful lifespan, which has no room for parking or an employee break area. In addition, much of Public Works’ vehicles and equipment are spread across five different locations, leading to inefficient operations as employees need to travel to different sites to reach their vehicles.
Wold toured police departments in similar mountain communities, including Aspen, Avon, Firestone and Timnath, as well as public works facilities in Pitkin County, Frederick and Windsor, in order to compile ideas for best solutions in Basalt.
For the project, the Town purchased a parcel on the south end of the Highway 82-Original Road intersection — a site that would have high visibility and easy access for both citizens and employees. Public accessibility was one of Basalt’s initial priorities with the renovation of the Police Department, in order to foster positive relationships between officers and citizens.
Wold’s preliminary plan would have increased the area of the police facility more than five times over — from 2,484 to 14,526 square feet. Public Works’ office space would have increased from 1,127 to 3,483 square feet. However, after a revision meant to save construction costs, the new planned area for the Police Department has been reduced by more than 2,500 square feet, and the Public Works office by 1,245 square feet.
The original plan also included a combined lobby space for visitors to both the Public Works offices and Police Department. That space has now been removed, and the two departments now have separate entrances both for security reasons and cost considerations. While the general area has been reduced, the new plan is factoring in another possible expansion down the road.
Wember Capital Construction, which helped coordinate the Midland Streetscape Project, had given a preliminary estimate of $28.5 million for the originally planned building, considering an average construction cost of $902 for every square foot. With the new changes, the total project cost would be reduced to an estimated $25.4 million.
For comparison, Aspen’s 18,515-square-foot police headquarters (which is not combined with its Public Works office) cost $18.1 million to build.
While the Town has yet to sign a contractor, Wold recommended a phased approach, with prices for the first phase not exceeding $15 million. If the council decides to move forward with Wold’s new plan, the next step is to complete a land-use application.
While no action was necessary on Tuesday, Basalt Town Council was left to consider possible options. Councilor Angela Anderson suggested pursuing additional grant funding, and Councilor Ryan Slack suggested the conversion of an existing building.
Town Finance Director Doug Pattison pointed out that it would be possible to draw money from two of Basalt’s restricted funds for capital improvement projects such as this one. Overall, however, Pattison was skeptical of the Town’s ability to presently fund such a plan, and stated that if the total cost for the project remains at around $25 million, he believes a sales tax increase will be necessary. Reducing project costs could prevent a possible tax hike.