Council to consider Public Safety facility study
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
The WSK&F architectural firm on Monday will lead the Maryville City Council on a tour of the city’s fire and police headquarters, pictured here. The firm has been commissioned by the council to produce a feasibility study examining the need for a new, larger headquarters, which would replace the current facility, a converted A&P grocery store.
The Maryville City Council will go to work an hour early Monday when the five-member governing board assembles at 6 p.m. at the Department of Public Safety headquarters, located at 222 East Third St., prior to its regular twice-monthly meeting at City Hall.
Council members are scheduled to tour the combined fire protection/police facility with representatives from the North Kansas City architectural firm of Williams, Spurgeon, Kuhl, and Freshnock.
WSK&F was commissioned by the council a couple of years ago to compile a “facility needs assessment” for the department, which since 1976 has been housed in a converted A&P grocery store built in the mid-1960s.
Following the tour, WSK&F representatives are scheduled to make a presentation at City Hall regarding the information they have gathered so far.
Public Safety Director Keith Wood said Friday he expected the report to be “non-specific” with regard to construction plans and costs. Rather, the presentation will focus on the capabilities of the existing headquarters along with expectations and needs associated with a modern-day law enforcement and fire protection complex.
In other words, there are as yet no detailed plans for a new headquarters on the drawing board. However, WSK&F is expected to address what city officials see as limitations associated with the current facility, the chief problem being space.
Wood said the current building embraces about 8,500 square feet, and that a new fire and police center would likely require a footprint more than three times that size.
“We force it to work,” he said of a police station that contains a cramped radio room, a multi-purpose interview room, a few offices, and a squad room.
On the fire division side conditions are equally constrained and comprise six truck bays equipped with overhead doors, limited equipment storage space, and one small office.
From a law enforcement perspective, Wood said, the biggest problem is a lack of investigative space, meaning that it is often difficult following a crime or incident to segregate victims, suspects, and witnesses, all of whom may be in the station at the same time.
In such instances, the chief said, it is sometimes a challenge to provide crime victims with “some degree of confidence that they are safe.”
Other limitations include a small interview room that does quadruple duty as a suspect processing space, breathalyzer room, and fingerprinting/mug shot facility.
Another concern is security, since the fire truck bays are often left open, especially during warm weather, and the entrance to the police station is barred by a single, usually unlocked, door and a waist-high swinging gate.
Depending on the time of day and other factors, Wood said, the police and fire areas offer multiple access points that could be exploited by someone seeking to do harm.
On less dramatic fronts, a single set of restrooms is shared by officers, dispatchers, staff, the city’s three professional firefighters, visitors, crime victims, and suspects.
As for the fire division side, expensive turnout gear is stored in proximity to fire trucks where it can be degraded by corrosive engine fumes.
Another problem is that, except for a shallow concrete apron, the building fronts directly onto the street, which means backing fire trucks into the bays blocks traffic and raises safety concerns.
Also on Monday, the council is expected to hear a presentation on CASPER — Communication Awareness and Safety Procedures for Emergency Responders.
The pilot program is designed to teach police officers and other first-responders how to interact with people coping with cognitive and developmental disabilities during a crisis situation or medical emergency.
Other items on Monday’s agenda include the appointment of a temporary city prosecuting attorney, a proposed staff reorganization at Mozingo Lake Recreation Park, and renewal of liquor licenses for 2016-2017.
