Hanover council is in favour of a new police station.
Council approved starting the proposed project during a meeting on July 15.
To fund the $8.6 million project, CAO Sherri Walden says council also approved a three-year tax levy increase starting in 2025 to meet long-term loan repayments.
“We recognize that construction of a police station will require a loan to be able to do that. So the impacts then will be spread out over three years so that the year that the loan repayment becomes effective, there isn’t a large impact on the tax levy,” says Walden.
The proposed police station comes from a review of the current station which council received at a meeting on June 17. Council approved the recommendation for a new police station, which would be built on the soon to be former firehall site along 10th Avenue.
“Some of the significant changes that are impacting our police service now is the increasing calls for annual service, they are having longer holds of prisoners in on-site cells and lack of available cell space, virtual bail court hearing is being held at the HPF station and lack of an effective space for that,” says Walden.
She adds the current site, which has been in service since about 1980, also has various other facility deficiencies and space limitations.
The town will be working on the terms of reference for the project, which is expected to come back to council this fall. The design of the new proposed building will be done in 2025, with construction starting in 2026, and completion in 2027.
Mayor Sue Paterson says, “a new police facility is a crucial component for our Hanover Police Service to conduct their essential community safety work well into our future.”
