MH Police now looking for other quarters since learning county
wants entire justice complex
With Morgan Hill apparently being elbowed out of an agreement
that would allow the city to build a police station at a future
downtown justice center, city council members this week took a look
at another site.
MH Police now looking for other quarters since learning county wants entire justice complex
With Morgan Hill apparently being elbowed out of an agreement that would allow the city to build a police station at a future downtown justice center, city council members this week took a look at another site.
What has caught their eye is an unfinished industrial building not too far away. But it’s not as simple as saying “we’ll take it,” City Manager Ed Tewes said Wednesday. The building is a shell 75 percent finished, has more room than the police need and would require the city to juggle its finances to secure it.
Nevertheless, council members were interested enough to tell Tewes to see what it would take to acquire the site. Also, they asked him to determine if Santa Clara County really is not going to share the site downtown originally earmarked for a courthouse and the police station.
The courthouse land at the corner of Butterfield Boulevard and Diana Avenue was part of $7 million that Morgan Hill contributed to settle a county challenge to its redevelopment program, which siphoned tax dollars from a number of taxing agencies.
A subsequent agreement gave the county first rights to the property, a prerogative that apparently is going to be asserted. In a Nov. 7 letter to Tewes, county General Services Agency director G. Kevin Carruth said that despite efforts to fit both facilities on the property, “it appears that there is not the capability to accommodate your police facility at this site.”
Part of the reason, Carruth says, is that the courthouse site is actually smaller than the eight acres it was believed to be.
A courthouse will replace the mold-infested justice center in San Martin that was closed several years ago. The building also will contain space for the district attorney, public defender and probation officers.
While city officials hadn’t planned to open a new police station on the shared site until 2005-06, the chance to acquire a 43,000-sqare-foot building on more than three acres along Vineyard Boulevard north of Tennant Avenue is worth investigating, they say.
The building – constructed for a client who backed out of the deal – is especially attractive because it could be ready for police within a year. Modifications to meet police needs would be required, but there is secured internal parking.
The asking price is $6.4 million, with improvements estimated at $800,000.
Currently, the department occupies 10,300 square feet at the corner of Main Avenue and Monterey Road – a headquarters that Chief Gerry Galvin says is over-crowded and functionally inefficient. Among its shortcomings, Galvin said, ventilation is bad, prisoners and victims can run into each other in the lobby, meeting and training rooms are too small and there is inadequate space for storage of property and evidence.
According to the city’s five-year capital improvement plan, $6.7 million has been budged for a police station – less than anticipated cost. A 1999 plan called for an 18,000-square-foot building, but estimates were revised this year to include a 25,000-square-foot facility.
Current and future residents would share the cost of a police station, Tewes said, with developer impact fees covering future needs and the general fund supplying money for immediate needs.
The Vineyard station could be ready relatively soon and provide adequate space, but would require general fund money fairly soon and would offer no “civic presence,” Tewes said.
Building a station elsewhere would provide a building specifically designed for police and would not require general fund revenue for three years, Tewes said. Also, a location nearer the downtown might be found, he said.
“There is no right answer,” Tewes said, reminding council members that they would have to weigh cost, location, community expectations and effects on the budget.
City planning commissioner Bob Benich, speaking for himself, said it makes sense to have a police station adjacent to the courthouse.
“Don’t give up so easily,” Benich said.
Benich suggested looking to the sale of the current police station for partial payment on a new headquarters. He said if redevelopment money can be found for a new library and aquatic center, the same could be done for the police station.
“If there is not enough money, cut the aquatic center budget. A police station is our No. 1 priority,” Benich said.
Councilman Larry Carr was miffed, too, saying he is disappointed with the county attitude. He recalled promises of cooperation for the benefit of both city and county.
Carr suggested writing a “pointed” letter to the county regarding the situation.
Colleague Greg Sellers saw a “silver lining” in the possible loss of the downtown courthouse site.
The Vineyard site, with space to spare, could house other tenants, including a fire station. Whatever use would have to be weighed against the loss of an industrial site.
Steve Tate asked for more information on retrofitting the Vineyard building. He said the $800,000 estimate seems low.
