The Eclectic Town Council said the town doesn’t have the money for a new police station.
The Eclectic Police Department presented the council with an option to purchase a building on Highway 63 and said its current building is not big enough or very useful in its current configuration. Lt. Zach Lyles said the current building lacks signage as well as adequate space for police officers to conduct interviews or finish reports in private. Lyles and the department presented the building purchase to save the town money.
“It is estimated a new police department building would cost between $6 and 7 million,” Lyles said. “The building with approximately 2.61 acres is $799,000.”
Lyles said the building already has adequate office space for the department and has warehouse space the department could pull vehicles into during inclement weather to protect them. It could also be used for training. The biggest requirements would mean moving the holding cell from the current building to the other and some work on the HVAC system in part of the warehouse.
Lyles said the building at the intersection of Highway 63 and Georgia Road could be purchased with an additional 2 acres for another $200,000 for a total of $999,000.
The police department inquired with the Alabama Department of Transportation about rearranging the parking lot for exits so the Eclectic Fire Department might possibly locate in the building as well.
“It’s not cost feasible to do that with ALDOT,” Lyles said.
The police department said it had approached members of the Elmore County Commission about helping fund the purchase, but no formal request was made.
“I think the city needs to do that,” Lyles said. “That is asking for funding.”
Lyles said the department has grown as Eclectic has grown over the years. In 1980 the department had three sworn officers and operated out of what is now the Eclectic Public Library. In the early 2000s, the department along with the town administration moved into the current facilities on Main Street. It currently has six sworn officers and two graduating from the police academy soon.
Lyles said the new building was needed as the town continues to grow with subdivisions near Madix and just south of downtown.
“It would accommodate a larger police department,” Lyles said. “We don’t have the space in the current building.”
Councilmember Stephanie Stepney said the town doesn’t currently have the funds for the building. She inquired about a rent-to-own scenario. The property currently has a prospective rental tenant willing to pay about $7,500 per month.
“We are also close to an election,” Stepney said. “I don’t know how many of us will be here after the election. We don’t want to saddle a new administration with this kind of debt. It needs to be their decision.”
The council also further discussed options related to the deed to the Masonic building near downtown. It was decided members of the lodge and the council needed to meet to make sure the details were correct and protected the city in the new deed.
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In other action the Eclectic Town Council:
• Approved the hiring of a part-time employee in public works.
• Approved the appointing of municipal election officials to conduct the August municipal election.
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The next meeting of the Eclectic Town Council is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, July 21.
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