Mark Schlachtenhaufen
The Edmond Sun
EDMOND —
A panel exploring the scope and scale of a new Public Safety Center in Edmond will be drafting a report it will review later this month.
Members of the Subcommittee for Review of Scope and Scale of the proposed Public Safety Center met Wednesday afternoon and discussed options for the project without knowing the actual price tag.
In 2008, voters nixed a property tax that would have funded a new $31.4 million, 83,000-square-foot facility at Main and Kelly. The city recently bought property at the southwest corner of Littler and Hurd for $435,000.
No one knows yet what the final recommendation for square footage in the new proposal would be. That number is partly contingent on future staffing, which is also uncertain at this point.
City Manager Larry Stevens said the 2031 staff projections for the Police Department and Central Communications are much higher than they will be in reality. When the study was done, the economy was in better shape and the city’s population was growing at a faster rate, Stevens said.
In 2007, staff for those departments was 175. If staff reaches 313 in 2031, that would be a 78 percent increase, Stevens said.
“The total number of 313 is much, much higher than it will be in reality,” he said.
No one knows what the exact need will be in the future, Stevens said. The city needs additional officers beyond what it normally projects, he said. Police Chief Bob Ricks said the agency is authorized to have 116 sworn police officers, and has 112 currently employed.
Ricks has voiced concern about losing ground gained in fighting crime given the city’s inability to hire additional police officers for the time being. The city, for example, has been experiencing an uptick in some gang-related activity.
Last month, a raid at an Edmond apartment complex was attributed to increased gang and drug activity.
Committee members also discussed options such as locating certain functions, like some storage, off-site.
A 2005 needs assessment study revealed that Edmond’s downtown police station is outmoded due to its limited space and configuration.
The Police Department’s current downtown building has five jail cells. This number hasn’t changed since 1980 when the city’s population was 34,000. More than 83,000 people now live in Edmond, according to the Edmond Economic Development Authority.
The Subcommittee for Review of Scope and Scale of the proposed Public Safety Center will meet next on Sept. 21.
marks@edmondsun.com | 341-2121, ext. 367
