ThisWeek CW 02/20/2014
http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/canalwinchester/news/2014/02/17/groveport-police-will-move-to-new-headquarters-by-march-1.html
Renovations to what will be the Groveport Police Department’s new headquarters are proceeding on time and on budget, according to City Administrator Marsha Hall.
The department is expected to move from its current location at 655 Blacklick St. to a building at 5690 Clyde Moore Drive by March 1, Police Chief Ralph Portier said.
Groveport City Council approved legislation last summer to borrow approximately $1 million for the project. At the time, Hall said buying the building, remodeling it and doing other renovations to what is now police department space in the Groveport Municipal Building would be much less expensive than constructing a totally new police facility — something she estimated would cost the city $5 million.
“The cost of the building was $472,500 and remodeling cost is $162,533,” she said in an email on Friday, Feb. 14. “Miscellaneous costs (additional parking area, furniture, security, IT, generator, etc.) is $311,464 for a total of $946,497.
“We borrowed $1 million and the remainder is being spent on moving the building department into the vacated police area of the Municipal Building.”
Portier said the renovated space on Clyde Moore Drive will include an expanded officers’ locker room, holding facilities and detention cells, an evidence room and separate offices.
“We’re in a 1,800-square-foot space right now downstairs in the Municipal Building and the new space is 6,000 square feet, and it is closer to where most of our responses tend to be,” Portier said.
“This will provide separation of offenders from the rest of the city operations and give the police department better security,” Hall said.
The contractor for the project is Central Ohio Building Co. Inc.
In Portier’s annual report to Groveport City Council Feb. 10, he noted that last year, his officers responded to nearly 9,500 service calls, including 159 accidents and 142 arrests while only receiving minimal complaints from the public.
“The patrol units continuously display professionalism with honor and integrity. Last year, I received only three contacts regarding complaints against our staff,” Portier said.
He said the department’s participation in the Franklin County Drug Task Force has been very successful.
“The official statistics are not yet complete, but our participation with the Franklin County Drug Task Force has substantially reduced trafficking in our area,” he said. “The agreement is working out very well for us.
“The task force is set to provide our share of the impounded money and I’ll report those figures when they become available.”
The department also successfully worked with the Franklin County OVI Task Force, which resulted in about 60 traffic citations, Portier said. He told council the city has a new Doppler radar unit, valued at $1,800.