The Moscow City Council has taken another step toward obtaining a new facility to replace Moscow’s police station by approving an $807,656 purchase and sale agreement with Indian Hills Trading Company for a 2.31-acre section of land located on the corner of Main Street/U.S. Highway 95 and Southview Avenue.
Located just west of The Grove Apartments, the land will serve as the location of Moscow’s next police department, provided the voters of Moscow approve a multi-million-dollar bond in May. The exact bond amount is unknown, but it is estimated to be between $7 to $10 million by Moscow’s chief of police, James Fry.
“I think (the city) is trying to run a bond for $10 million,” Fry said. “Because of costs and stuff, they’ve figured out it would actually be closer to around $7 million to build a new facility. It would double our size.”
Voting over the bond will take place May 21 at the Latah County Fairgrounds.
Moscow’s current police station is located downtown on the corner of East Fourth Street and Washington Street.
The evidence storage space in the Moscow Police department, they will be moving locations to better accommodate the department.
Alex Brizee | Argonaut
Unfortunately, being situated between one of the city’s busiest one-way streets and a narrow downtown sub-street is only one of several causes of concern for both Moscow Police Department (MPD) Captain Tyson Berrett and Chief Fry.
“Moscow’s Police Department is not very accessible to the public,” Berrett said. “One, because there isn’t a whole lot of parking. Handicap parking is there, but is hard for them to physically get into the building. We try to keep everything up to date, but the building itself is probably a hundred years old.”
Berrett said the complex location of the department plays a significant role in MPD’s response time.
“Rush hour in Moscow makes it almost impossible for (MPD) to get out,” Berrett said. “I’m honestly surprised we haven’t had more crashes right there. People block the intersection, officers can’t get out ─ it affects our response times.”
Berrett, in charge of the department’s campus division at the University of Idaho, said the building that was once ideal in the mid-1990s has since become obsolete for the growing community.
“When I first started working (in Moscow) we had half the building,” Berrett said. “If you’re looking from the street, we had the left half. We were lucky enough — when City Council expanded over where it is now — to take that space over. That was great, but now it’s really inadequate.”
Berrett stressed the overpopulation and overcrowding overwhelms the building.
“It’s a deteriorating building. It’s too small for the amount of working staff we have in there by far,” Berrett said. “We have 36 officers plus our support staff, which puts about 45 or more people in that small of a space.”
Chief Fry detailed a few of the many renovations done to the building in order to prolong the inevitable – expansion.
“If you go into, what used to be our old locker room, is now our weight room and partial storage room,” Fry said. “You’ll see everything is overcrowded. We took the women’s locker room and moved it to another room, and made that room an evidence room. We’re constantly juggling and moving work around. We’re out of space.”
Although there are several issues the department is facing, Berrett said they have been receiving support from members of the community, the Moscow City Supervisor Gary Riedner, and City Council. Despite that support, there is yet another obstacle: time.
Tyson Berrett | Courtesy
“We’ve been going through this process for almost three years now,” Riedner said. “We’ve identified all the available pieces of property that are large enough to house a police station — a modern police station.”
Given the criteria for space and location, Riedner said a few different locations across downtown where being evaluated including the federal building and Moscow Recycling.
Riedner said the property obtained by the Moscow City Council not only meets all of the special and locational criteria, but also lends itself to much greater public accessibility without sacrificing MPD’s response times.
“There isn’t an existing building on the property, so there are no demolition costs involved,” Riedner said. “It is one where public-improvements have already been installed — the city will have no responsibility constructing roads around the site. It is in fairly close proximity to the University of Idaho, very close to downtown by way of vehicle.”
Although progress toward a new department seems well underway, Riedner said there are still a few more processes the city must go through before the purchase of property is official. Such processes include geotechnical testing to ensure the environment can support the type of construction that needs to be completed. If the city finds the site to be unsuitable within an agreed-upon 90-day feasibility period, the city can then void the purchase, he said.
Riedner also said the city may refund the property if the multi-million-dollar bond fails to pass.
Capt. Berrett showed frustration when discussing the “wasted” money that has already been put into the building over the years.
“We work really hard at using what little we have to make it work better,” Berrett said. “We do a really good job at that. But, one of these days, somebody is going to come in and see everybody working on top of one and other.”
Andrew Ward can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @WardOfTheWords
*This story has been updated to reflect the correct name of Captain Tyson Berrett.