McMinnville Revisit Police Station Idea

McMinnville Aldermen revisiting the idea of building a new police station.

The city has considered building a new police station on and off for past several years. Alderman Sally Brock said currently the police administration is in a separate building from the rest of the police department. Brock said the alderman are revisiting the idea because it is something that simply needs to be done.

“I personally just feel like it’s time that we do something,” Brock said. “I feel like they need a new building, they deserve a building of their own and I for one am just ready to get it done.”

Vice Mayor Steve Harvey said he is not sure if building a new police station is the answer but he agrees the city needs to address the issue.

“I don’t know how much frustration they have voiced,” Harvey said. “From what I understand they would rather be together in the same building. That’s about as much as I know and it seems to be a better idea. They kind of need a permanent home in the same location.”

Harvey said the options on the table consist of moving the police station to the Pacesetters building, building a new station on Bell Street, or remodeling the current police station to create enough space for the whole police department. Harvey said he would like the board to explore remodeling the current building.

“I’m not saying that is a done deal but I think we certainly ought to look at that for the reason of saving us a substantial amount of money,” Harvey said.

Brock said the budget will be a concern but the city will soon have more financial means to try and address the police station.

“We have some payment items that are now rolling off the budget and I think if we sell the property out at the old Pacesetters building and maybe get some low-interest loans that we can pull this off,” Brock said.

Brock said the board of alderman has also discussed moving city hall. However, Brock and Harvey both said that city hall needs to stay where it is currently located.

“They spoke about selling it to a developer and that is the first I have heard of that and at this point, I am not in favor of that,” Harvey said. “I don’t think that property is worth as much as what people think it is. It’s a very good location for us and I think city hall is great downtown.”

“It just needs to be in town where people can conveniently get to it,” Brock said. “People come in to pay their bills and so forth and I think it needs to be accessible and I think downtown is the proper place for city hall.”

Brock and Harvey both said the aldermen will continue to look into options of what they can do about the police station and City Hall.