The Indian Harbour Beach City Council has found a way to build a $4.5 million police station without breaking the city piggy bank.
The city will use a blended funding approach to maintain its “pay as you go” philosophy for capital projects – rather than putting the city of less than 9,000 residents in debt.
A 2016 needs assessment calling for the new police headquarters prompted the first discussions of loans. The following fiscal year, the council appropriated initial funds for the design of the new 13,000-square-foot facility to be located on 3.3 acres south of the Dollar General Store on South Patrick Drive.
The 2018 Capital Projects Workshop included official options by the city financial consultants to consider funding this new facility with the issuance of long-term debt. The Mayor and City Council declined, deciding to continue with the pay as you go strategy.
The city awarded the design of the new Police Headquarters to RZK Architects, Inc. from Cocoa in March 2019, and the site survey work has been completed. It is expected to be out to bid in late 2019 and under construction in January 2020.
The city will use a variety of funds to build the new station debt-free, but it’s not finished with its list of large capital outlay project needs, said City Manager Mark Ryan. There is still the $10.5 million Muck Removal Project, and a new baffle box project to reduce nitrogen into the Indian River Lagoon estimated to cost $284,000, of which about $68,000 is funded through a Save Our Indian River Lagoon sales tax appropriation, he said.
Ryan said the city has been an excellent steward of its resources, expending $7.39 million on capital improvements since 2014 without a tax increase for those purposes, an average of $1.48 million per year.
“There will always be competing needs for the community and you have to utilize a blended approach to accomplish the goal providing those needs. As evidenced above, the three cited projects have a myriad of funding sources we intend to pursue to meet these goals,’’ he said.
