Washington is proceeding with plans to build a new police station – if the price is right.

The City Council met Tuesday morning to review the project, especially its cost. The meeting was called to address some council members’ concerns the project’s cost had escalated beyond the $3 million approved by the council.

According to the figures provided to the council Tuesday, the total cost of the project č construction, site preparation, soils analysis, architectural/engineering fees, moving costs and other fees č comes to an estimated $4.3 million. The construction cost and site work cost combined come to $3.22 million.

The council decided its job is to have the final project cost closer to $3 million than $4.3 million.

“Respective of what Councilman (Ed) Moultrie says, ‘Do we want to build a police station?’ Are we in support of that? And the net answer would be ‘Yes,’ provided we have our cost concerns addressed,” Mayor Archie Jennings said.

Councilman Doug Mercer noted the council initially approved spending $3 million on the project, with funding from the project coming from three sources č $1 million would be borrowed, $1 million would come from the public-safety reserve fund and $1 million would come for grants.

In June 2010, the Washington City Council voted to pursue up to a $3 million loan to help pay for the new facility.

If the city borrows $2 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help build the facility, its annual debt service on that amount would be $117,422 over 30 years. If the city borrows $3 million, the annual debt service would be $176,133 over 30 years. Should the city borrow $1 million, its annual debt service would be about $60,000 over 30 years.

“My main question is this: From the outset, we’ve talked about a number around $3 million. We have $1 million the city would throw in from public safety. We’d borrow $1 million, and we would find $1 million from somewhere else, and that challenge went out to the folks at the police department and the folks seeking grants and that sort of thing. That’s $3 million. Where is the other $1.2 million going to come from?” Jennings said. “And I see down there where we’re going to borrow $2 million. That’s twice as much as we said we were going to borrow. So, how do we get to $2 million from $1 million? And that’s what this council’s going to have to decide. We’re going to have to move the number backwards or we’re going to have to move what we borrow forward. We need to decide that.”

As the council continues to look for ways to reduce the project’s cost, it’s considering reducing the number of parking spaces at the new police station from 90 to 50, which would save an estimated $150,000. The council also may consider reducing the project cost by reducing the size of the proposed facility, with current plans calling for it to have nearly 15,000 square feet of space.

Police Chief Mick Reed made his case for the new police station’s size remaining at 15,000 square feet, saying that amount of space is needed for the department to function properly and meet the latest standards regarding police stations. Reed also said if the council decides to go with a smaller police station, he would accept that move.

Two potential funding sources could help the city bridge the gap between the $3 million the council approved spending on the project and the current estimated cost of $4.32 million for a turn-key project.

The city could realize a net of $600,000 in “buyout” money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA could provide money to the city to demolish the existing 36-year-old police station in West Third Street and leave that site vacant because it’s in the 100-year flood zone. The city could realize a net gain of $600,000 if it accepts the FEMA funds.

By incorporating an emergency-operations center as part of the new police station, the city could receive $457,000 in grant funds to help make that happen. Current plans for the new police station allow for a community room to double as an emergency-operations center.

Mayor Pro Tempore Bobby Roberson likes that idea.

“This is a great opportunity for us,” he said about having an EOC as part of the new police station.

The council did approve spending up to $3,900 for a soil analysis of the proposed site for the new police station. That site is at the intersection of North Market Street and Airport Road, just east of Warren Field Airport. The city owns the land proposed to house the new police station. It also approved spending up to $6,100 for a detailed site survey, including topographic information.

“We need to know if the land will hold the station up,” Mercer said.

Once the soil analysis and detailed site survey are completed, the council will use that information to determine whether to proceed with building the facility on the proposed site.

The council meets again at 5:30 p.m. Monday in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Building, 102 E. Second St.