Officials Make Final Push For Dartmouth Police Station Support

After next week, the Dartmouth Police Department will find out if they get a new home or not.

Project officials and Police Station Committee members spoke during Monday's select board meeting hoping to clear up any remaining questions on the $15-million dollar building, and to make a final push for voters to support the debt exemption ballot question on April 4.

Project manager Richard Pomroy compared the new building to the previously rejected renovation idea, calling it like comparing apples and oranges.

He said the new Gidley School site will give the police department room to grow with larger male and female locker rooms, almost 4,000 square feet of unfinished space included for potential expansion, and upgrades in technology.

"We hear that question time and time again. What about the future? Well this facility is designed for the future. It's designed for today, but also for the future not only in space, but in state-of-the-art systems," Pomroy said.

Dartmouth Police Brotherhood President Sean McGuire also took the opportunity to support the project, and clear up some confusion.

McGuire said many locals he's spoken to still don't understand that the project hasn't been approved yet. He said some residents have congratulated him believing construction is already underway on the building since the selection of the Gidley School site.

Town officials also clarified the tax impact on residents with the debt exemption. In the first year, residents will pay around $21 more in taxes per $100,000 valuation of their property. This means a house worth $300,000 would pay about $63 additionally in taxes at first.

That number would decrease each year, with the additional tax cost being $12.78 in year 20.

If approved by voters next Tuesday, the estimated completion date for the new Dartmouth Police Station is May 2019.