Mills Pleased With Price Tag On Police Station

Cookeville City Council got its first view of the new $15.45 million police station to be built off Neal Street.

That includes some $13.6 million in construction costs, well below earlier estimates. City Manager James Mills said architects called the building one of the most efficient buildings they had seen.

“Very little wasted space,” Mills said. “I’m personally very pleased with where we are on this.”

At a Monday work session, council members saw the outline of construction costs and bids on the biggest line items for the 70-week project.

Council members expressed just once concern with the plan. Council member Mark Miller asked the construction team to come back to the council with a price estimate to finish out the third level of the station. That was taken out of the construction plans to save money.

“We went about this to get the best bang for the buck,” Mills said. “There were lots of things that, from what we originally started out with from, that were cut out or modified.”

Finishing the space could add some 3,000 square foot. A preliminary estimate and rough drawing will be considered by the council to see if they want to pursue a full change order.

Chief Randy Evans said the plans do not include a lot of additional space for growth. However, he said the projected growth over the next several years will be more in patrol officers than among in-office staff.

The biggest line items in the W&O Construction bid include $1.536 million in masonry and $1.5 million for electrical work. Concrete costs will top $1.413 million. HVAC expenses are budgeted at $1.324 million.

City officials reviewed each bid by subcontractors in the project two weeks ago. At least three bids were considered for each trade area. 74 percent of the subcontractor bids are from regional and local companies.

The council will approve a separate resolution for furniture, fixtures and equipment. The city has budgeted $1.75 million but the current numbers stand at $1.5 million.

Both construction and fixtures estimates contain contingencies for any overages.

If council approves the resolutions Thursday night, the process to move forward would begin Friday, according to Mills. The bond issue would come before the council in August at the earliest.

Mills said Evans and Major Scott Winfree deserve a lot of credit for their vision and hard work on the facility.