Citing an immediate need to provide adequate security and functionality for the Lakeway Police Department, Lakeway City Council approved a resolution June 20 to support the creation of a new $16 million police station and seek funding for the project through a May 2017 bond.

The resolution established a Police Facility Building Committee—composed of Mayor Joe Bain, Council Member Jim Powell, former Mayor Dave DeOme and City Manager Steve Jones—to coordinate efforts to advance the project.

“I would like to see a sense of urgency as to getting relief for the chief [of police] and his staff,” said Charlie McCullough, Justice Center Advisory Committee member.

The advisory committee toured the Lakeway Justice Center and other stations to develop its recommendations.

“When we came back from the tour of the [Lakeway] Justice Center, we were sitting in this hall,” committee chairperson DeOme said. “Charlie McCullough shook his head and said, ‘You know, as a citizen of Lakeway, I’m embarrassed.’ And, I think a lot of the other people on the committee felt that same way.”

DeOme cited the rationale for creating a new police station included the inadequacy of the current space and its negative impact on the force’s morale, lack of public and secure areas, substandard interview rooms, limited locker space and evidence/records storage, maintenance costs of an aging building, a small parking lot, a nonsecure parking area for police vehicles and an inadequate juvenile processing area.

Additionally, DeOme said the lack of a holding cell has caused detainees to be handcuffed to a bench before being relocated for booking.

“When you see [the current justice center], you’ll see how inadequate these facilities are for what I think the community’s expectations are for what the police department needs to be,” DeOme said.

The committee proposed renovating the current justice center—at an estimated cost of $200,000-$300,000—to serve as the city’s municipal court space and allow for more court dates.

Originally, staff proposed a new justice center complex Aug. 19 to serve both police and courthouse needs totaling 46,859 square feet and estimated to cost nearly $19.7 million. However, a detailed review of the proposal presented May 2 estimated justice center costs at $26.9 million, including purchasing land.

The cost of building only a police station sized at 29,268 square feet, and not including court space, is estimated to be $16.6 million, DeOme said.

“[Lakeway] was the 46th city to earn a Best Practices rating from the Police Chiefs Association of Texas,” he said. “We are at risk at some time in the future of losing this Best Practices rating. It would be a shame, in my mind—[for] a police department that has put in procedures, put in training programs, has got a staff that is up to snuff and able to meet this kind of condition—[to] find out we, as a citizenship in the city, don’t give them the facilities they need to continue on meeting this Best Practices rating.”

DeOme proposed a May bond referendum to fund the project and estimated the resulting annual property tax increase for an average Lakeway homeowner would be about $89.80 on a $448,980 property value. He asked council to pass a resolution to fund an architectural design and rendering of the proposed facility so residents will have an idea of what they are voting on.

“This [new police station] is definitely needed—there is no question about it,” said Bob Stubbs, Lakeway Police Foundation vice president.

DeOme’s committee suggested two proposed locations for the new police station—the intersection of Lohmans Crossing at Lohmans Spur and a tract on North RR 620—out of six possible sites, DeOme said. The current location has limited space to expand that is not located within a flood plain, and the cost to relocate the departments to temporary spaces during construction would be very expensive, he said.

If the referendum does not pass in May, the project cannot be put before the voters again until three years has passed, Bain said.