Pat Donahue/Times-EnterpriseArchitect Greg Smith goes over the changes in the site plan for the proposed Cairo Police Department headquarters at Monday night's Cairo City Council meeting.

CAIRO — The Cairo Police Department could get a new home by the end of next summer, after city council members approved a price for it Monday night.

Council members unanimously approved a guaranteed maximum price of just under $3.7 million for the building, and construction manager Doug Young said it could be completed within 14 months of the start of work.

“It might be a month and a half, two months before we dig the first footer,” he said. “It will take probably 30 days before we get onsite.”

Said Greg Smith, “There is a lot going on before we get to actual construction.”

The building will be approximately 12,500 square feet. A training room will be right off the front entrance and access beyond that point to the administrative offices, patrol officers’ area, holding cells and sally port will be controlled. The building plan also calls for a large evidence, room for items greater in size, and a smaller evidence room with secure lockers.

“We had a great deal of input from the chief when we went through this process,” Smith said.

One of the problems with the bid and the prices, Young said, was the lack of contractors and subcontractors showing interest in the project. He said they normally solicit 15 firms they have worked with before over the years for a project of this nature and get six bids back.

But with so much Hurricane Michael-related work still occurring, fewer firms are looking for work.

“Everybody is busy,” Young said. “(It was) hard to get people to bid, and they are a little bit higher. We reached out to at least 15 people in every trade. Up until the last week and a half, we felt like we had a lot of bidders. They just dropped out.”

Included in the guaranteed maximum price is an $80,000 contingency to cover any unforeseen costs or change orders. Any money not spent out of the contingency will revert back to city council, Smith said.

Smith also outlined other changes to the plan. First, the site itself is shifting and the reworked plan calls for larger pipes to handle stormwater runoff.

“We found there were issues with the drainage and the existing storm drainage on that site,” Smith said. “Much of the existing storm drainage was not suitable and could not handle the building. Actually, it cannot handle the existing conditions on that site. So any addition was problematic.”

The pipes will act as an underground stormwater retention, releasing the water at a predetermined rate so it does not overtax the system, Smith said.

The existing stormwater runoff system downstream will have to be addressed at some point, he added. 

“Upgrading that storm drainage downstream is difficult because you have so many other factors,” Smith said. “It should happen at some point but it will take a major effort to do it.”

Initial surveys did not show any stormwater drainage on that street, he added.

“We did not have all that information when we started,” Smith said.

The plans for the new police department were not based on any other existing facility.

“This was designed from scratch,” Smith said.

The shifting of the building on the site will not result in a loss of expected parking spaces, Smith told council members. There will be additional streetscape work with street lights and concrete sidewalks with pavers added. 

“We want the building to look good,” he said. 

Editor Pat Donahue can be reached at (229) 226-2400 ext. 1806.