McCordsville Police vehicles are parked outside of McCordsville Town Hall on Monday.
Mitchell Kirk | Daily Reporter
McCORDSVILLE – Officials in McCordsville are working on preparations for a new, larger police station to keep up with the growing community.
They’ve identified a site in an area that’s part of the municipality’s town center project. Leaders have also hired several groups to help determine what the station will look like, how much it will cost and how it will be paid for.
The town’s police department currently operates out of McCordsville Town Hall, located at 6280 W. 800N. Town manager Tim Gropp noted how the building was initially built as a public works building.
“They are at and beyond capacity,” Gropp said of the police department. “It was never built as a police station; they’re using closets and cubicles, and it’s not very conducive to police work.”
McCordsville Police Chief Paul Casey said the department’s working area is between 1,500 to 2,000 square feet.
“The current facility was not purpose built for a police station, but at the time was a tremendous upgrade for all town staff,” Casey told the Daily Reporter in an email. He added that as McCordsville grows and town staff increases, the need arises for additional facilities specifically designed for police work.
Gropp said a new town hall will be necessary eventually after the new police station as well.
“It was very clear they needed new facilities first, and by moving them out, we’ll be able to expand our offices to make it last several more years, so that will give us additional room,” he said.
Town officials have identified a location off the north side of West CR 750N on the south side of the upcoming McCord Square project – a mixed-use development that’s kicking off McCordsville’s town center vision. Gropp said the site will allow the station to be centrally located in town.
“Land in the area is at a premium and [Gropp] worked with developers of Town Center to locate the police department in an area that had the proper ingress and egress,” Casey said. “This type of creative thinking will turn out to be a very large savings on the overall project.”
Casey said the police department has 15 full-time officers and plans to hire five more by December 2023.
McCordsville Town Council approved agreements with several Indianapolis firms in June to help facilitate the new police station. Officials intend to fund much of the preparatory work from part of the $1.56 million the town received from the American Rescue Plan the federal government enacted amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
K2M Design will provide planning and design services as well as a feasibility study that will take into account the town’s projected future growth.
“We need to build a building we can grow into because we don’t want to build another one down the road,” Gropp said.
The firm’s agreement with the town states a fee of $25,000.
Veridus Group, Inc. will provide project management services. Its agreement estimates $50,000 for taking the town through pre-construction, but construction through closeout is to be determined. The company has been assisting McCordsville with its town center project as well.
McCordsville officials expect to issue bonds to fund the development of the station. LWG CPAs & Advisors will assist with that, and the $30,000 for its services would come from the bond proceeds.
Hall, Render, Killian, Heath & Lyman, P.C. will provide legal services for the project. The law firm’s agreement states fees are not predictable, but that $20,000 to $40,000 is expected for preparing the build, operate, transfer agreement that’s anticipated for the project.
