Council approves funding for half a new roof at police department
By Brandi Makuski
City council members approved a $151K expense on Monday to fund repairs for a new section of roof at the Stevens Point Police Department.
Nieman Central Wisconsin Roofing, based in a Lyndon Station, Wis., won the project for which it submitted the low bid of $151,225.
The project was included in the 2019 budget, which was approved last year. Police Chief Martin Skibba said the bid was similar to estimates the department received in 2018.
The bid was unanimously approved. Alderman Jeremy Slowinski and Shawn Morrow were absent.
Skibba said the department has dealt with leaking in a number of rooms since moving into its new location, 933 Michigan Ave., in late 2017, and replacing the south end of the roof “couldn’t wait any longer.”
“It’s had substantial failures over the last couple of years; the flashing (a material used over joints to prevent water seepage and damage) is pulling away from the wall multiple feet in length, so it’s exposed to the elements.”
When the police department relocated, Skibba said the city agreed two key upgrades were considered a priority: fixing the roof and constructing a new, secure garage for department vehicles. Skibba said he was advised to focus on the new garage first because of “ancillary” damage the new construction could cause an existing roof.
“We’d again planned to have the garage built in ’19, but because that was moved back to ’23, we couldn’t wait any longer on that section of the roof,” Skibba said last week, adding the north end of the roof had “a few years of life left,” and will be patched as needed until it can be replaced.
Skibba placed the $1.7-million garage as the department’s second-highest priority in the 2020 capital budget. Mayor Mike Wiza and City Treasurer Corey Ladick again moved that project out to 2023, along with other necessary building upgrades for the evidence and processing rooms, and layout improvements for patrol offices, all of which are still essentially large classrooms, as designed by the former tenant, Mid-State Technical College.
Skibba said some on the city council have campaigned for the department to get its new garage sooner, like Council President Meleesa Johnson, who in September questioned why the garage wasn’t listed in the 2020 capital budget.
“She and others on the council have championed for us, but it’s been my understanding the treasurer and mayor have been, I wouldn’t say triaging, but looking at the overall capital requests,” Skibba said.
Ladick told the city council during a September capital budget presentation that department heads submitted $11.3 million in requests for capital improvements—items like hardware/software, vehicles, building infrastructure, and construction or repairs—next year. But about half of those requests were cut to balance next year’s $5.8 million budget.
Skibba said initially, the department proposed replacing the south roof and constructing the new garage be included in the 2018 capital budget. It was pushed back to 2023.
“I brought it back for 2019; they pushed it to ’23. I brought it back again for 2020; they pushed it to ’23. So we’ll have what appears to be a “Yes? No.” conversation yet for a couple more years. There’s no guarantee that in ’23 they’ll build the garage,” Skibba said.
The department knew it would see a heightened pedestrian presence in the new location, which is next door to a park, a school, a youth center, and the city pool. But with construction continuously being delayed, Skibba said officers are growing more concerned about so many citizens being close to squad vehicles parked out in the open.
“It’s one of the most high-liability vehicles in the city, and it has access to state IT systems and databases, it has loaded weapons in it. One would think you’d have a stronger priority in securing that,” he said.
He also referenced a youth counseling center that moved into the building’s east wing last year. Officers have found some of the troubled youth from Northwest Journey hiding around and underneath police squads, he said.
Parking outside also affects officers’ response times during the winter months, Skibba said, as officers have to clear snow and ice from the vehicles before leaving the parking lot.
“We knew we were going to have that issue but we also strongly understood we’d be getting a garage sooner than later to finish the police department,” he said. “When you look at all the costs we were asking for, for less than $3 million overall, you would have a completed police department for the next 30-40 years, easily, with potential to expand if needed.”
