The McMinnville Board of Mayor and Aldermen has authorized AEI Architects and Planners to proceed with the design and construction documents for a new police station.
McMinnville Mayor Ryle Chastain addressed the board regarding the necessity of obtaining official architectural schematics before the project can advance to the bidding phase. He clarified the scope of the vote to ensure the board understood the specific obligations involved in this stage of the process.
“This does not mean that the city is going out right now and building a new police station,” Chastain said. “We have to have official architectural schematics drawn for us to send out to bid for financing and things of that nature.”
The resolution authorizes the City Administrator to execute the necessary documents to make the agreement with the architects effective. Chastain said an official price for the project will be known at a later time.
“So when we get those documents back, we’ll know—or actually, once we get the documents back and those go out to bid, then we will know a concrete price and what we’re looking at, but the city is not obligated by this vote tonight to go with any bid,” Chastain said.
The resolution also covers new construction at a previously approved site shown in the attached site plan.
Prior to the vote on the police station, the board addressed a bond issue for the McMinnville Electric System to fund a new substation. Although the city must legally issue the revenue bonds, the debt is the sole responsibility of the utility company and does not impact the city’s general fund.
“This bond issue is only for McMinnville Electric System; it does not involve city taxes nor does it affect water, police, fire, roads, or any other city service,” Chastain said.
Board members Brock, Deitra Dunlap, Rachel Kirby, Carrie Morton, and Youngblood voted in favor of the police station resolution during the roll call.