A backed up sewer and no room to move. West Richland cops want a new shop

West Richland police have gone to some extreme measures to maximize the space in their cramped offices.

They’ve taken down walls, turned their one shower into an impromptu drying room, and bought a portable classroom so they can keep using the station build more than 40 years ago.

Despite all the sacrifice and effort, it’s clear the department has outgrown its building, Chief Ben Majetich said.

When officers need to process evidence, they need to clear off the table in the center of squad room. They can store a single vehicle in their fenced impound yard. An unruly suspect could bolt from the interview room into the squad room, or round the corner on the clerks in the front office without much stopping them, Majetich said.

Water leaks through the walls. The roof has collapsed — twice. The sewer backs up into the non-functional shower.

“We’re making do,” he said. “We do the best we can.”

The 3,500-square-foot station on Van Giesen Street simply isn’t adequate for the 23 employees who use it on a daily basis, said Jon Wierschke, the chair of the committee that put together a $12.5 million proposal to build a new police station.

City officials are in the middle of a series of meetings to inform the public before putting the proposal on April’s ballot. The next will be 6 p.m. Wednesday at Enterprise Middle School, and the final will be 6 p.m. Nov. 7 at the West Richland Public Works building.

The first only attracted a handful of people, and none asked questions about the proposal that could add 42 cents per $1,000 of assessed value to property taxes — a $200,000 home would cost $84 more a year.

Wierschke helped create the outline for a new 22,500-square-foot building. The committee worked for more than a year with help from Integrus Architecture. Members visited Richland and Pasco police stations and held several discussions before coming to a final decision.

The committee wanted a secure building with space to add additional officers and process evidence, and for community meeting rooms. While they could have gotten away with a smaller building for about $3 million less, Wierschke said it wouldn’t be a good buy for the city.

“A building like that is not going last us very long,” he said. “At 22,000 square feet, we project that building is going to last us 40 to 50 years.

“At 15,000 square feet ... hopefully it will last 20 years.”

The $12.5 million price tag is raising a few eyebrows with several people looking at Pasco’s $8 million public safety building.

Pasco’s building — about 38,000-square-foot — was the committee’s model. Richland’s 15,000-square-foot station already is too small for it’s department, which is converting closets into offices and searching for space, Wierschke said.

While Pasco’s station — funded by a public safety sales tax — did cost less than West Richland’s estimate, Wierschke and Majetich said Pasco didn’t need to pay for land, architects or other expenses.

The city is looking at buying property near Bombing Range Road for the new station, since it doesn’t have a 4- to 5-acre lot that would work, Wierschke and Majetich said. Putting it near the city’s new municipal services building wouldn’t work either, since it would be shoved behind new schools and a new administration building planned for the area.

“There is no where on that property with enough space for a station and secured parking, even if the city purchased any available land around it,” Wierschke said.

While the city has a good credit rating and the ability to borrow the money, it doesn’t have a way to pay it back, city Finance Director Jessica Platt said.

The city also struggles with bringing in sales tax revenue. The nearby shopping centers on Duportail Street are inside of Richland city limits. Richland makes nearly the same in sales tax as it does in property tax, while West Richland’s sales taxes are closer to half of its property taxes.

This story was originally published October 15, 2018 at 11:36 AM.