The home of West Richland police is now in the hands of voters
Voters will get a chance in April to voice their opinion about a new West Richland police station.
The city council unanimously agreed at a recent meeting to put a $12.5 million bond on the spring ballot to replace the Van Giesen Street building.
Plans call for a new 22,500-square-foot structure that would offer more space to process evidence and store weapons. It also would let the department ditch the nearly 40-year-old building.
It was spacious when the department had only three officers. Now they have 23 officers and personnel.
Officers went to extremes to find space in the 3,500-square-foot facility, including adding a classroom portable and turning the station’s one shower stall into a drying room.
The space issue was in full view during last week’s murder investigation, said Police Chief Ben Majetich.
Officers tried to process evidence in the station while interviewing the suspect nearby.
“It was a nightmare,” Majetich said. “We were having to whisper so the suspect couldn’t hear us. At one point, we even thought that there might not be enough room to dry the evidence for processing.”
Majetich said officers have sometimes held suspects in patrol cars or in administrative offices because they’ve run out of room in the station. It means fewer officers on the road.
A committee spent six months looking at other police stations and working with Integrus Architecture to develop the outline for a building they believe will last 40 to 50 years, said Jon Wierschke, the head of the committee.
The city doesn’t own a 4- to 5-acre lot big enough for the facility, Wierschke said. Officials are eyeing a chunk of land along Bombing Range Road.
The measure will need 60 percent of the voters to agree, according to the Benton County Auditor’s Office. If it’s approved, property owners would pay about 42 cents per $1,000 of assessed value more — raising property taxes for a $200,000 home by $84 a year.
Majetich said the proposal mostly has been met with support. He did have one comment where someone suggested making a smaller building, but no one suggested the department didn’t need a new one.
“I’m optimistic,” he said. “I’ve been to every event that I can go to. ... Hopefully with the proper amount of of education, I feel confident that it will pass.”
Some people have questioned why the facility is so expensive.
Commenters on social media point out Pasco’s new facility cost just $8 million, yet the department has at least three times as many personnel.
Majetich and Wierschke said Pasco didn’t need to purchase the land or do separate engineering.