The creation of a new public safety facility to serve Bainbridge Island is a step closer to reality.
The Bainbridge Island City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to put a $15 million bond before voters in November. The council gave its initial OK to the election request this week, and a final vote will happen at the July 21 city council meeting.
The ballot measure, if approved by voters on Nov. 3, will increase property taxes to pay off approximately $15 million that the city will borrow to design, construct and equip a new police station and municipal court building.
The $15 million also includes the cost needed to acquire land for the new building, which will replace the police department’s current headquarters on Winslow Way.
The bond debt will extend 20 years, according to the ballot proposal that will be presented to voters.
For someone who owns a property assessed at about $500,000, property taxes will rise by roughly $100 annually, beginning in 2017.
At Tuesday’s meeting, there was no extended discussion from council members on the ballot measure and no one from the public spoke.
The city’s bond counsel, Alice Ostdiek, spoke briefly to remind city council members that their role during the election should be to educate voters about the measure, but not to campaign for or against it.
No public dollars can be spent campaigning for or against the proposed public safety facility, but the council was told that, as a group, they can pass a resolution in favor of it if they desire.
Councilman Val Tollefson asked whether the $15 million ballot request meant that the city had to spent that much on a new facility.
He was told that the $15 million is just the maximum that the city has planned for the project.
City officials previously said that buying land and building a new public safety building will cost between $13.8 million and $14.6 million. Part of the cost of the new facility may be offset by the sale of city-owned land, including the unused and undeveloped Suzuki property; the current location of the Bainbridge police station on Winslow Way near the ferry terminal; and surplus lands at Head-of-the-Bay.
All of the city lands are valued at $4.5 million, which could be applied to the costs of the new public safety building.
Prior to their action Tuesday, the council met multiple times in recent months behind closed doors in executive session to talk about land acquisition and other issues involved in the project.
The council has said it wants to build the new public safety facility on land just north of city hall, on three parcels that total .75 acres. City officials have estimated the purchase price of the properties to fall between $2 million to $2.5 million.
Bainbridge Island has been considering a new police station and municipal court facility for several years, and employees have long complained that the current police station is too small and outdated.
Bainbridge Municipal Court is currently located in an office structure and storage facility at 10255 NE Valley Road in Rolling Bay.
Previously, the council thought about combining a new police station with a new fire department headquarters, but in February, voters approved an increase in property taxes to expand fire facilities on the island after the Bainbridge Island Fire Department moved forward with a solo facility. That prompted the council to consider a new police station combined with a municipal court.
If approved by voters, construction of the new public safety facility could begin by late 2016 or early 2017.
The council will hear public comment before their final vote at its meeting on July 21.
Voters will receive ballots by mail in mid-October, approximately 18 days before the Nov. 3 General Election.
Bond measures must be approved by a super majority, or 60 percent, of all votes cast.
More information on the history of the public safety facility discussion can be found on the Public Safety Facility project page on the city website.
