Published: August 19, 2008 10:15 pm         

New police headquarters moving closer to reality

OAK HILL — The construction of a new Oak Hill police station on Virginia Street may come one step closer to fruition Thursday when city council votes on the second and final reading of an ordinance transferring property from the city itself to the city building commission. The public meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. at city hall.

“This meeting, though not unimportant, is a formal step in the process,” Mayor Bill Hannabass said.

“It would be hard to argue there’s not a need for a (new) police station. I’m extremely proud of our police department. They are very professional, and they really deserve it. After Thursday (if the ordinance is approved), I think there’s a green light for ground to be broken.”

Although a completion date was unknown, Hannabass said the bid for construction had been awarded to Gassaway-based Flint Construction. According to the contract, the construction cost is not to exceed $1.3 million.

To pay for the project, the city took out a loan for $1.25 million. The property itself — 4.5 acres — was purchased for $269,000.

“We negotiated what we thought was a fair price. I don’t think it was expensive. We don’t need nearly that much (acreage) for a police station. There’s one to one-and-a-half acres for that,” the mayor noted.

“One thing that’s appealing to us is down the road — 10 years or more — a new city hall is going to be a really obvious need. That property where the community garden is now will be available if that ever comes about in the future. It’s a good investment.”

Hannabass named a plethora of reasons to justify the new facility — a need to be modern, closer proximity to U.S. 19, a more central location in city limits, better response time, a less congested and confusing traffic situation than exists on Kelly Avenue and a safer situation for officers, the general public — and even prisoners.

“If officers have a prisoner they need to put in a holding cell temporarily, they have to drag that person in cuffs by the same window at city hall where you or I would go to pay a traffic citation. If the prisoner is combative, it’s cumbersome for the officer and the prisoner,” he emphasized.

“If you go in that front door of city hall and there was some deranged person, our officers would really be in peril and couldn’t defend other employees at city hall. The working conditions are pretty deplorable. From the squadron itself to the municipal courtroom, it’s pretty bad. The courtroom looks like a broom closet right now.”

The new station, Hannabass said, will feature a special entrance for the booking of arrested suspects, an area for evidence control, a better atmosphere for interviewing suspects or witnesses and a professional courtroom. As it stands already, his city’s police officers are far ahead of the curve on evidence control, Hannabass insisted.

“If a person from the media wants to look at how that’s done correctly, you don’t have to look any farther than the Oak Hill Police Department. They have up-to-date software and equipment, along with strict guidelines. The first thing they purchased with their equipment fund was a very sophisticated computer system to maintain evidence.”

Once the new station is finished, Hannabass hopes to use the vacated area in the downstairs part of city hall as administrative office space for city employees who currently work on the second floor.

“It will allow us to better serve the public to have those offices on the ground floor. All of that might sound insignificant, but we moved council chambers from upstairs to downstairs. I think it’s obvious how that better serves the public,” he observed.

— E-mail:

mhill@register-herald.com