The Monterey Police Department wants to use the Old Sewer Plant on Woodcliff Drive as an additional police facility.
Sergeant Larry Bates said the plant sits close to the department’s firing range. Bates said the facility would be useful to store range equipment.
“Nothing that can be stolen, not guns or anything like that,” Bates said. “Targets, cardboard, props, stuff like that down there that we don’t have to try to drag back and forth. They can go down there and work in the office, go out, set their stuff up, and when the training people get there, they can start right from the training.”
Bates said one big problem with the old sewer plant is that a septic tank would need to be installed, as there is no sewer connection. Bates said not having a bathroom near the firing range is a problem.
“One of the complaints that I had was some of the women got down there, and they had no place to use the bathroom,” Bates said. “No porta-potty, no nothing down there. Same with our guys, if they’ve got to use the bathroom after they have been up here, El Tapatio or whatever up here, and you know that feeling when you gotta go to the bathroom and you’ve got to drive across town, that’s bad.”
The Aldermen will consider the idea in the coming weeks.
Alderman Bill Wiggins said he would like to see the old sewer plant used for something.
“I think the property needs to come alive for various reasons,” Wiggins said. “And the other one, and this is not top, but we have a solar installation down there that’s been idle, and once that meter is turning again, we start getting income, plus the property needs to be occupied.”
Bates mentioned that there was previously a budget line item for training courses that he was unaware of and that were never used. Bates said he would like to use funds to install a septic tank at the old sewer plant and construct an awning at the range. Wiggins said the town had discussed improvements at the firing range in years past.
“I do remember that budget item Ella (City Recorder Dishman), and that was bequeathed to my successor,” Wiggins said. “And we were gonna make some capital improvements down there, and I have no idea whatever happened to that, because we had talked about a shelter and some more structural kind of modifications. We need to resurrect it and state this one out and get it done.”