Livonia’s City Council held off a decision about building a new police station, nearly a year after voters rejected a bond package that included a new building as part of a bigger plan for the Civic Center campus.
The council voted unanimously Monday night to send the issue to the Committee of the Whole, which includes all seven members of the council.
The council and Mayor’s Office have been looking at options to replace the city’s 65-year-old police headquarters after voters rejected a plan last summer as part of a larger, $150 million bond package for Livonia’s Civic Center campus.
Council President Kayleigh Reid said some members have met with Mayor Maureen Miller Brosnan’s administration to discuss proposals for the headquarters plan behind closed doors. Putting the topic before the Committee of the Whole will give residents more opportunities to participate in the discussions, she said.
“We thought it would be a good way to work with the administration to get our questions answered, but I think we all figured out that was not transparent like we’re trying to be, because they’re closed meetings and we’re all asking different questions,” Reid said.
The council voted about a month ago to approve a notice of intent for issuing up to $45 million in bonds to build a police headquarters building, but it was not a binding vote to use the funding source. The bonds would be paid for with about $2.4 million a year the city said it has saved from a change in retiree health care. The funds had previously been earmarked for building a new City Hall but was not spent, and would not require a vote by residents to approve.
The police headquarters was built in 1961. The mayor and other city officials in favor of replacing the building say the aging building doesn’t fit the Police Department’s needs, is cramped and has infrastructure problems. A location proposed by the administration would move the police station north and east, adjacent to the 16th District Court on Five Mile Road, though the administration has signaled a willingness to consider other locations near the Five Mile and Farmington Road area.
But the council’s decision to delay a decision about the new building is drawing opposition from some residents, who have criticized the proposal to build on wetlands on the site as well as the cost and funding sources proposed.
“Would anybody build their house on that, unless they want to have a pontoon boat underneath?” said one resident, Wayne Snyder, during public comment Monday.
Concern about the police station has spilled over into a ballot question that has typically passed without issue: A millage set for the August election to fund operating costs for the police and fire departments, which comes up for a vote to renew funding occasionally and was last renewed in 2011. The city has funded public safety operations using a millage since 1955. Some residents warned the council in public comments that frustrated voters could turn against the millage this year to send a message to city leaders.
The Livonia police union has asked residents not let the building project affect their position on the millage vote. The union president said a millage failure could lead to the Police Department cutting as many as 40 officers from a force of just over 100.
Resident Betsy Calhoun said the city needs to learn from last summer’s failure of the bond package that would have included the new station. She said trust in government has eroded and she said she was “terrified” residents could vote against the millage to send a message.
“If residents feel the only voice they have is their vote and that the chain is being yanked, things could easily go sideways. If that happens, we are all skewered,” she said.
Councilmember Carrie Budzinski said just before the council vote that delaying a decision was the result of listening to feedback from residents, not from trying to dodge a difficult debate that has upset many residents.
“I think the purpose of you guys coming here tonight was to influence what our next steps were, and you guys did do that by coming here, and (this) is the result of that,” Budzinski said. “It is not a trick. It’s not nefarious. It means the conversation continues.”
jcardi@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Livonia holds off on new police station decision
Reporting by Julia Cardi, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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