After months of waiting, the Great Bend City Council Monday night approved the conceptual design and budget estimates for the new Police Station and Municipal Court Building at 12th and Baker, and authorized city officials to move forward with the project, although the early draft of the plan exceeded original budget expectations.

However, the decision was not made without reservations by a skeptical council wary of balancing frills with the city’s long-term needs. In fact, the motion to proceed passed on a slim 5-3 vote.

“This is our first look at an overall cost,” said Chris Younger with Wichita-based McCown-Gordan Construction, the firm hired last September as a project manager. The council was presented with a master budget $383,829 over budget, but he stressed this is “a comprehensive accounting of the project costs. It is important to remember that this is conceptual and not the guaranteed maximum price.”

As presented  the total cost came to $8,083,387, higher than the project budget of $7,699,557, said City Administrator Kendal Francis. The sales tax-supported bond issue is expected to bring in $5,638,557.47 and that is being paired with $2,061,000 in city reserves to pay for the new facility.

The city administration suggested tapping Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security funds to cover the upfront cost overages. The new sales tax is expected to generate excess revenues, and those revenues can be used to replace CARES funding.

“Our team has been working to refine the layout and cost options,” Younger said. “There are significant contingencies built into the total project cost.”

These contingencies total $585,532 and include such things as a built in price increase based on the construction market, as well as design and construction costs. The planners rounded the figures up, but there is always the chance they could be lower.

The overall plan includes the Police Department and the Municipal Court, as well parking for staff and the public, said Mitch Cook with GLMV, the Wichita architectural firm hired last August. “We laid out the building to meet those needs.”

This schematic estimate is for construction of a new 20,100 sf single-story structure. 

Ward 2 Councilwoman Jolene Biggs was leery of the high cost. She suggested sending the plan back to department administrators to make some cuts.

But, “in my opinion, we are nickeling and diming this building,” said Mayor Cody Schmidt, who has been in on the planning meetings. “We have spent hours on this.”

There have already been some cosmetic features and equipment removed, he said. And, the longer a decision is delayed, the higher the costs could be.

Voting for the motion were Ward 1 Councilman Alan Moeder, Ward 2 Councilman Kevyn Soupiset, Ward 3 Councilman Cory Urban and Ward 4 Councilwoman Natalie Towns and Ward 1 Councilwoman Lindsey Krom-Craven. Voting against were Biggs, Ward 4 Councilman Brock McPherson and Ward 3 Councilman Davis Jimenez.

Younger said they should have a guaranteed maximum price by early July and bids would be let after that.  

In last November’s general election, voters approved a 0.10% city-wide sales tax for 20 years, “to finance the costs of police station improvements.”  The project was first addressed in 2016 when an engineering study for current police station on Williams Street was approved by the council. Championed by then-Police Chief Cliff Couch, there was discussion then that it would be preferable to start from scratch at a new location.

The idea was dusted off again in September 2020 when Francis brought up resuscitating the effort to replace the current 90-plus-year-old building.