It did not take long.
Police Chief Shawn Devine stated Wednesday at the Police Board meeting that some city officials were concerned about the idea of a brand new $20 million dollar police headquarters to be built at a new location yet to be determined.
See related story: Police looking for new home
Less than 24 hours after North Bay’s Top Cop endorsed a recommendation to have a new police building constructed, longtime city councillor Mike Anthony is speaking out against the idea.
“From a municipal standpoint we have to admire and respect the men and women who protect us every day, but that respect does not mean that we can automatically afford the most expensive option,” said Anthony in an interview with BayToday.ca this morning.
“We know the good work that is done, and the important work that is done but when we are talking about that building if there are less expensive options I believe we have to look at them.”
The North Bay Police Board will be supporting the Chief’s recommendation at an upcoming City Council meeting looking for city support. The Police received a comprehensive police facility report in October which offered three different recommendations, two of which outline renovations to the current facility and the third to build a new facility at a different location.
Anthony believes spending $20 million on a new building compared to $8 to $9 million to renovate, does not make financial sense especially with Casselholme and arena projects on the horizon.
“We have to consider the communities ability to pay, we have to keep in mind that on average we have the lowest average income of the main Northern Ontario centres, our average incomes are lower and that makes our tax burden even harder to bear, we have to take into account the ability to pay,” said Anthony.
“We also have several large projects on the go so I realize this one is a few years out, I just think we really have to be cautious before we add to larger and larger projects,” added Anthony.
Devine has stated he will look for council support for a new building they hope will break ground in the next four to five years. Devine noted some structural concerns at the local site including the ground at the current site settling. He is concerned the cost will not be worth it to renovate the facility up to provincial code as the building continues to deteriorate.
See related story: Board looking at major reno's or a rebuild of Police Headquarters
