Sioux City Council OKs downsized police renovation plan

SIOUX CITY | The Sioux City police station will get exterior repairs and a new heating and cooling system in the next fiscal year, but a new emergency generator and other fixes will have to wait.

The City Council on Thursday accepted a scaled-back renovation plan from Police Chief Doug Young as part of the fiscal year 2016 budgeting process.

Young's department cut its request for repairs to the nearly 30-year-old building to about $2.4 million. The revised plan drops the generator and renovations to the stations front entry enclosure and grounds.

Last year the department asked the city for about $3.9 million to repair failing infrastructure and a deteriorating parking lot, Young said.

We were tasked with prioritizing what we wanted to get done for the council, and our priorities were the outside of the building and a new (heating and cooling) system, he said.

The building, at 601 Douglas St., has a leaky roof and walls. Young said moisture seeps into the building and creates potential for mold and increased maintenance costs.

The council also approved an additional $100,000 to repair a stretch of sidewalk outside the police station on Douglas Street, between Sixth and Seventh streets.

Also as part of Thursday's operating budget discussion, Jade Dundas, public works director and assistant city manager, said his department will have vacancies when three surveyors retire over the next few months.

With the vacancies, Dundas recommended reorganizing employees who work on the city's geographic information system. That would include eliminating a surveyor position and an underground utilities services coordinator. If the positions were eliminated, the city would save approximately $180,000 per year.

Dundas also recommended the city maintain its current engineering staff. The department is currently interviewing two candidates.

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Sioux City Council OKs downsized police renovation plan