Bartlett panel recommends new police station despite concerns
Bartlett plan commissioners Thursday unanimously recommended approval of the village's proposed new police station, despite some concerns about the expected longevity of the building and neighbors' complaints that nighttime noise levels are likely to get worse.
Plan Commissioner Tim Ridenour said the existing station built in 1991 doesn't seem that old to him and that the expectation of a 30- to 40-year life for a new building on the same site didn't seem much better.
"I think 25 years is pathetic," Ridenour said. "Is that all we're getting out of a municipal building nowadays?"
Mark Bushhouse, president of Itasca-based Williams Architects, which designed the proposed 48,982-square-foot station, responded that any building can be made to last as long as it's maintained, but that doesn't mean it still serves its purpose well.
Despite an estimate of Bartlett's current population of just over 41,000 people reaching 48,000 by 2030, there are other questions about the future of the village - and policing - that can't be answered today, he said.
Such changes since the early '90s are exactly what are driving the need to replace the current 22,900-square-foot station adjoining the municipal center on Main Street, Police Chief Patrick Ullrich said.
Though built for 40 employees, it now houses about 77, in addition to poorly serving some other needs, he said.
Residents Cheryl Gillette and Mark Kosbab live in houses across Oak Avenue from the police station. Though largely pleased to be so close, they said the nighttime noise of snowplows or officers talking outside is already disruptive at different times of the year. But with an additional parking area to be built on their side of the street, they said they expected these problems to get worse.
Plan Commissioner Mark Hopkins advised staff members that the village should be as sensitive to neighbors in the design of the parking area as it would demand of any other developer.
Community Development Director Jim Plonczynski said he'd never heard such a noise complaint at any earlier point in the project. Ullrich said he'd never heard such a complaint even before the project.
The next stop is the village board's planning and zoning committee on Tuesday, May 2, when a recommendation may be made for the full village board's consideration on Tuesday, May 16.