The Police Facility Task Force recommends the 35 Swan St. site as the most viable location for the new police station.
The task force voted 6 to 1 in favor of the site at its final meeting Tuesday night. The next step is to bring the recommendation to City Council.
"Really what we felt in terms of the Swan Street location is we think financially it was the second-cheapest option," Chariman Marc Staley said. "The location is excellent and the property has already been demolished."
The industrial site is located near Main Street and Ellicott Street and the cost of the project is estimated at $12 million. The large site opens up the opportunity for expansion of the police station if it is needed in the future.
Some environmental cleanup was done by the owner of the site. If City Council moves forward with the recommendation, environmental studies will be conducted before any purchase.
The majority of the task force has been favoring the location for a couple months now.
Member Peter Garlock's vote against the location came as a shock to the task force. Garlock sent a two-page letter outlining his opposition to build a new police station a few hours before the final meeting -- opposition he never mentioned before in prior meetings, Staley said. In the letter, Garlock stated the current police station should be renovated and shared services with the Genesee County Sheriff's Office should be considered.
The task force has been meeting since December analyzing approximately a dozen sites. After walking all the sites, conducting studies and having numerous architectural drawings done, Staley feels comfortable with the recommendation. The task force has also been working closely with Chief Shawn Heubusch who supports the site.
"Now the decision is whether to invest in the community or not," Staley said. "If we go ahead and build the new police station, I think it's a spot that will hold our police here in the city for the next 75 to 100 years."
On Aug. 10, the task force will present its recommendation in a written final report to the City Council.
So they want me to believe
So they want me to believe that after that property sat abandoned, after the fire, then Mr. Mancuso cleaned it all up, then the task force decides to recommend that property for the new Police station....... it's just a coincidence, I'm sure......
I believe the site is an
I believe the site is an excellent location. I'm all for it.
I like the site, it's a good
I like the site, it's a good location.
Hopefully the public will get
Hopefully the public will get to see and read Peter Garlocks letter as to why he is against it..I know Mr.Ruffino ex-legislature also spoke out against this at a recent public meeting,along with a few others..The city paid consultants to come up with sites and Swan was not on it.Why pay consultants if the city was going to create a task force and they were going to pick a site not on the list..Just like the hiring of a asst.manager and funding of vibrant batavia the public was against it and city council choose not to listen and do what the city manager wanted.I have a feeling the same thing will happen here..
Mark, you know that the Swan
Mark, you know that the Swan Street site was in litigation when the first sites were looked at. You have been to enough meetings to know that. The Task Force was also told to look for the best option and you know it was never limited to only the ones first identified. And remember, the Manager originally seemed to favor the Salvation Army site, until the problems with the floodplain and FEMA flood insurance issues came up. That left Alva Place and Swan Street, and Swan was recommended as the better location and the lower cost.
I also believe the
I also believe the consultants looked properties identified by city staff, not properties selected by the consultants.
As John said, Swan Street was in litigation when this process started. It hadn't yet been cleared of its buildings.
I also think it was overlooked at first because it was considered a little out of the way from Downtown.
The whole point of having a committee process at all is so that other ideas might bubble to the surface. That's what happened here. It's a feature, not a bug. As John said, the task force was charged with considering all options, not just a specific list of properties.
The Swan St. property was in
The Swan St. property was in litigation because it wasn’t cleaned up in a timely manner. It was almost five years before it was done.
This doesn’t necessarily mean the Swan Street property is not the best choice now because Mr. Mancuso owns it.
There might be buried pollution and contaminated ground at the Swan St. site. The EPA must be brought in to determine if this is the case.
"I know Mr.Ruffino ex
"I know Mr.Ruffino ex-legislature..."
That would be ex-legislator.
Legislature is the plural label for the entire body of legislators.