Gilford choice on police station renovations nears

GILFORD The amount of money approved by voters at town meeting in March for the renovation and additions to the police station is less than the amount proposed by two construction companies for the work, but a third companys proposal may fit the bill, town officials said.

Town officials say they will try to have the work done by the company offering the lowest proposal, Gary Chocoine Construction of Weare, whose proposal for the work is $1,365,048.

The town has roughly $1,382,000 in the budget, as there is additional money for architectural and other work needed for the project, said Town Administrator Scott Dunn.

Its really tight, Dunn said. But we will enter into discussions with (Chocoine Construction) to see if we can get this done with what we have.

The other proposals which were not bids, Dunn said came from Meridian Construction of Gilford, which proposed $1.6 million, and Turnstone Construction of Milford, which submitted a proposal of $1.4 million.

At present, there are deficiencies in the police section of building, including safety and building code violations. But the big problem is space, as the building is bursting at the seams, Dunn said previously.

Among the renovations planned are a new garage and sally port for prisoners, two new holding cells and a new booking room. At present, officers have to walk through the booking room to get to other parts of the station, and there are only two cells.

There will be a new training room for police as part of a new emergency operations center, which could be used in times of crisis or a major police operation, and could serve as a call-in center for residents during an emergency. The plan is to add more than 6,000 square feet of space to the building, town officials said.

Before the project was approved in March, the town tried to enlarge and improve the police department twice before but failed to get voter approval. In 2006, a proposal for a new standalone station with a cost of about $2 million failed. In 2009, a proposal for renovations and an addition with a price of $1.58 million failed to get the required 60 percent approval.

dseufert@newstote.com

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Gilford choice on police station renovations nears