Marshfield Officials Say Police Station Should Stay in Current Location
Wednesday, February 27th, 2019 -- 8:01 AM
(WDLB) -Marshfield officials say the city's police station should stay where it is.That's what members of the Marshfield Common Council heard during their meeting last night. A site evaluation study regarding the current Police Department facilities pointed right back to the city’s current location at First-and-Chestnut. The study was recently completed by city of Marshfield staff, with assistance from a consultant, following an in-depth look into facility and space needs completed in 2018. City Public Works Director Dan Knoeck told the Council that last year's study did verify some deficiencies, but nothing a little remodeling couldn't fix. The study also identified some costs for remodeling, ranging from three-point-five to six-point-three million dollars.
The Study also identified work that would need to be addressed with the building in the next 5-10 years, ranging from one-point-seven to two-and-a-half million. After receiving the results of the space study, council members questioned if the location was the best option to continue serving as the police department and directed staff to organize a site evaluation study to compare the current site to other options. The space study also identified the cost of a newly-constructed facility around 11-to-14 million dollars, which did not include site acquisition. The Eau Claire firm of Five Bugles Design, the same company that completed the space study, was brought on board to assist with a site evaluation.
The committee developed a selection matrix and then generated a list of eight considerable sites including the current one, toured the sites, and rated them. Knoeck said two sites north of the railroad tracks were identified, and five locations that were south of the tracks. Knoeck said that the existing site ranked third in the final evaluation, due to factors such as: public access and visibility, access to thoroughfares, and the fact that expansion and remodeling there would be much lower than building new.
However, the site is still too small, expansion to the south would impact parking, and there is sometimes congestion at Chestnut Avenue and Veterans Parkway. Knoeck said that the two sites that ranked better had better size and expansion capability, more distance from railroad tracks, and less potential for traffic impact. He added that both sites, however, would sacrifice the current central location. The Council took no action last night based on the committee's recommendation.
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