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Medford police seek room to breathe County to decide on temporary offices while long-term solution study begins By JILL BRISKEY If approved by the City Council today, Medford police will move the dispatch center and patrol division out of City Hall to ease overcrowding. But the proposal is only a temporary solution, said Chief Eric Mellgren, adding the city must eventually decide whether to build new headquarters, acquire and convert an existing building, remain decentralized or make do inside City Hall. Mellgren said the department will ask the council today for a budget transfer of $141,000 in order to fund a modular building to house the patrol division. "It's going to give us some breathing room," Medford Lt. Mike Moran said. "But it's still a temporary solution." If the transfer is approved, the city would begin constructing the temporary structure on the lawn of Medford's service center off of Columbus Avenue. Mellgren said the building will cost the city between $66,000 to $75,000 the first year and $2,480 annually after that. The department would also have to expand an existing parking lot at the city shops. Mellgren estimates the construction would cost $66,000. Currently, Mellgren said, the city has about 20 more police vehicles than it does parking spaces. The modular building would house the patrol division - 71 officers - and include a briefing room and offices for sergeants. It would also include a men's locker room, Mellgren said. Several officers now share lockers in cramped quarters at City Hall. Mellgren said the men's locker room will be eliminated during City Hall renovations. Female officers would use the locker rooms inside public works, he added. "The women's locker room (inside City Hall) ought to be condemned," Mellgren said. "It's just a real nasty place." The police department will also ask the council to approve another transfer of $256,000 in order to lease a building for the dispatch center, or Central Communication (CCOM). The two transfers will come from a one-time savings that resulted from unfilled positions, Mellgren said. Mellgren wants to move CCOM into an office at 548 Business Park Drive and enter into a five-year lease. Costs will range from $195,000 to $255,000 the first year and $52,350 annually. The building has room for eight stations, while City Hall has only four. "We have no capacity to bring in more people," Mellgren said. Police officials have already relocated and shuffled personnel to avoid overcrowding, Mellgren said. To ease the strain, 11 staff members were moved to the parking structure at Sixth and Riverside, while the property and evidence facility was remodeled and moved to the city's service center. Many police employees work out of the Santo Center, while others are assigned to JACNET's off-site offices. The detectives' unit was moved upstairs in City Hall. When City Hall was built in 1967, officials planned to construct a separate police department at the corner of 10th and Ivy streets (which is now a parking lot). Mellgren said over the next few years, the overcrowding issue must be addressed - along with planning for future growth. "We don't know what the future will hold," Moran said. "It's all up in the air." Reach reporter Jill Briskey at 776-4485, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.