GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A new public safety headquarters has been included in the first draft of the City of Green Bay’s Five-Year Capital Project Plan.
Talk of replacing the police station has been going on for years due to the department outgrowing the current facility.
The draft proposal includes $1 million in 2020 and $1.5 million in 2021 for land acquisition and planning.
Then, in 2022, $47.5 million is listed for construction. In all, the plan estimates $50 million in the next three years for the project.
The city’s first draft of a five-year capital projects plan identifies $154 million in projects – with one-third of the money anticipated for a new public safety headquarters.
“This is a new approach to have all of this on one plan to help us evaluate and prioritize projects,” said finance director Diana Ellenbecker. “It is a working document. It is constantly changing.”
Each department may have had its own internal plan, but this draws them all together into one document to provide a bigger picture of what expenses the city may be facing. What the plan doesn’t do is identify how to pay for the projects. Depending on the item, it could be funded by including state or federal dollars, user fees, property taxes, wheel tax, or borrowing, Ellenbecker said.
“We want this to become part of our ongoing budget process,” she said.
- Click here to see the projects plan
By far the largest single item in the plan is the long-discussed replacement for the police station.
For several years, the city has been considering replacing the existing police station at 307 S. Adams. City and police leaders say the department has outgrown its current building, which is nearly 50 years old. The public safety center could also include administrative offices for the fire station.
The draft proposal includes $1 million in 2020 and $1.5 million in 2021 for land acquisition and planning. Then, in 2022, $47.5 million is listed for construction. In all, the plan estimates $50 million in the next three years for the project.
A construction estimate from a few years ago placed the construction cost – without land acquisition – at more than $34 million, but that is already outdated and will need to be updated, she said. But without knowing exactly what the public safety building would include, the $47.5 million is an early estimate and will likely change, Ellenbecker said.
One site under consideration is a roughly 10-acre area just north of the Green Bay Metro Transit Center, but no land has been purchased and a final decision on a location has been made.
Some of the other larger items in the five-year plan include:
- $37.5 million for storm sewers
- $24.7 million for pavement projects
- $10 million for sanitary sewers
- $7.5 million for replacement of fire stations #1 and #3
- $6.5 million for the second phase of the Shipyard project
Each item is individually ranked by city staff on a scale of 1-to-4, designating its urgency.
It will be up to the City Council to decide how to proceed with the plan, Ellenbecker said. No action is expected at Wednesday’s meeting.
The Finance Committee meeting is at 3 p.m. Wednesday in room 307 at City Hall, 100 N. Jefferson St.
