Council approves hiring architect for planned police building and joint animal shelter

City staff presented a request to hire Smelter/Smeltzer Architects to design a new police station and an animal-control building on a recently acquired eight-acre site on Cope Boulevard. Council approved the hire after a brief presentation that noted the firm previously remodeled the police department and has experience on similar municipal projects.

City Administrator James Fincher told council that the animal-shelter effort is a joint venture with the county and is being funded in part by a private bequest: the estate designated $1 million for the project split between the city, the county and the local humane society, to be paid in $100,000 annual installments. Staff said the plan is to build a roughly $1 million facility and finance early construction costs with the expectation of future installments reimbursing the city over time.

Council approved the motion to hire the architect and directed staff to proceed with schematic design and cost estimates; the planning and procurement steps that follow will determine a formal project timeline.