Palmetto picks site for new police department headquarters
The Palmetto City Commission has picked a site for a new police department headquarters.
By a 3-2 vote, commissioners decided to build on the site of the former Palmetto Elementary School, off Seventh Street West in the heart of downtown. The city recently paid the Manatee County School District $1.4 million for the 8-acre site.
“In my opinion, as a resident of the city, it’s a no-brainer and should go where the school was vacated,” said resident Charlie Ross, a sentiment shared by about a half dozen speakers who said time is of the essence considering the condition of the existing police building.
Commissioner Harold Smith, who voted against using the school site, wanted to build on an alternate site off 10th Street West near tomato packing houses and migrant housing complexes. The neighborhood. is considered to be a higher crime area.
Smith said building there would reduce crime and that Community Redevelopment Agency funds could pay for the construction.
Smith argued that the CRA could not legally pay for a new police station at the elementary school site, despite a legal opinion from city attorney Mark Barnebey that it could, if the city amended its CRA plan to define high-crime area and essentially add language necessary to ensure its legality.
Commissioner Tamara Cornwell also was uncomfortable with any plans of using CRA dollars and she sided with Smith until an opinion could be given from the Florida League of Cities.
A decision to build at Smith’s preferred site would cost about $1.5 million more to construct, not including the price of purchasing additional land needed for the the building.
“We can’t keep putting this off,” said Commissioner Tambra Varnadore who made a motion to choose the school site. “It’s an option that has more pros than cons.”
The city currently has about $6.5 million of its sales tax dollars budgeted for the police department building, out of an estimated $8.2 million it needs for the project. The city has several choices to help offset the budget shortfall, including the eventual sale of the site of the existing police department, as well as additional acreage on the school site not needed for the police facility.