Action by City Council authorized staff to request applications for architectural firms for the design and construction of the facility. An additional motion was passed allowing the city to request applications for a construction manager at-risk project-delivery method, in which a general contractor provides preconstruction, demolition, relocation and construction services while allowing city input.
“We selected the construction manager at-risk process to bring the general contractor on at the same time as design. We think that is the most efficient way to put the building together,” City Manager Clint Garza said. “As the architect is doing drawings, if something doesn’t fit, we can identify that early on and ensure we build the facility as efficiently and effectively as possible.”
The new facility will be a 17,600-square-foot, two-story building with offices for administrative use, evidence processing and storage, records retention, holding for short-term detention of arrested individuals, an investigations area, interview and interrogations rooms, and more.
The new facility is estimated to cost between $12 million-$13 million and will come from the general fund of the city, with the intent to reimburse the general fund once bond funds come in, Garza said. The design process is expected to take about a year, but construction can start before design is complete. The project is expected to be complete in two years.
The new facility will be located in the same location as the current building, at 13333 W. Hwy. 71, Bee Cave, according to city documents. Police staff will be relocated as the current building is torn down and a new facility is built on the property.
The facility will serve as a base for the city’s 19 police officers, who currently work out of a building constructed in 1998 as a combination City Hall and municipal court. The building was later taken over and modified for the police department’s needs but remains unfit for the expanding police force, according to the city.
The building was never intended to be used to house a police force, Communication Director Jenny Hoff said. For instance, the attic of the facility was converted into a gym and a broom closet was turned into a makeshift shower to meet the needs of officers. Additionally, the current facility lacks training rooms, a designated interrogation space and a proper evidence room.
The project is the first laid out in the city’s capital improvement plan, which was approved in October. The $103.5 million plan sets a roadmap for the design, financing and construction of major infrastructure improvements over the next five years.
