Elburn moving forward with plan for larger police station

Elburn trustees settled on a new plan for a larger police station space that comes with a smaller price tag that still should meet the department’s needs for the next 20 years at the village’s current growth rate.

The two options the board evaluated at the March 4 Committee of the Whole meeting were Plan C, a new building on six commercially zoned acres within the Blackberry Creek subdivision, and Plan D, a reconfigured expansion of the building on North Street that houses the Village Hall and the police department.

Plan D involves flipping the location of the Village Hall with the police department, allowing for more expansion of the police department over time.

The board’s discussion began with a presentation by Village President Jeff Walter.

“This has been a seven-year process for the board and even longer for the village,” he said.

The building was built in 1992, when the population of Elburn was 1,275. Although the first space analysis completed in 2008 indicated the need for a larger police building, the economic crash and the housing market collapse put that possibility on hold.

A short-term fix to expand the department’s space to 1,875 square feet was completed in 2018 and a second space analysis done by another consultant in 2020 called for the same 32,000 square feet that the first firm had recommended in 2008.

The village formed a Citizens Advisory Committee in 2022 to validate the need for a new police station and to recommend financing. The committee recommended a new station with a cost not to exceed $9.9 million, but a referendum proposal on the ballot in 2023 to fund it failed.

An investigation into the possibility of reconfiguring an existing building in town to house all the village departments uncovered the need for substantial structural upgrades to meet police department code and the lack of additional space to accommodate future growth of the Public Works Department. The village’s consideration of another building found the need for asbestos abatement and updated Americans with Disabilities Act requirements and made that choice cost prohibitive.

In the meantime, Finance Director Doug Elder established a bonding authority for the village, allowing the village to sell bonds to help pay for the building.

With the options defined as Plan C and Plan D, board members weighed the pros and cons of each.

Plan C, planned for the Blackberry Creek subdivision site, has a price tag of $12 million.

Elder estimates the village would have to come up with an annual payment plan of $924,000 over 20 years to pay off the bond for that amount. To pay for it, the village would have to take $442,000 out of the general fund, resulting in significant cuts to other items in the budget. Potential Items identified for these cuts include support for the parks and cuts to the street program, which currently includes a 20-year cycle of street maintenance.

Plan D, the expansion of the current building with a price tag of $6 million, would require an annual payment plan of $469,000 over 20 years, which would leave a small surplus in the general fund, fewer cuts to the parks program and the ability to leave the street program whole.

Both plans likely would include a 1% increase in the places to eat tax from 1% to 2%, Walter said.

“The $6 million plan is much more attractive,” Trustee Pat Schuberg said.

Trustee Chris Hansen agreed, saying he was in favor of not having to cut as much from the parks.

“My big concern is the $442,000,” Walter said. “Where are we going to get that money from? We can’t spin streets out to 27 years [between maintenance]. That’s just not going to work. So where else do we cut? Yeah, we can cut, but then everything else goes down to bare bones and I’m not a big fan of that either. That’s why I’m in favor of Plan D.”

Police Chief Nick Sikora said he is really looking forward to a plan moving forward.

“We’ve been seven years getting to this point,” he said.

The board is scheduled to officially vote on a plan at the next Village Board meeting March 18.