THUNDER BAY – Mayor Bill Mauro has expressed his hesitance to support a proposed $56 million new police headquarters, saying the city still needs to “look harder at other possible solutions.”
Mauro put distance between himself and the Thunder Bay Police Services Board proposal at a mayor’s town hall held virtually Tuesday evening.
The mayor said he has voted in favour of the proposal as a member of that board, but only “with qualifying language, in principle, just to move it forward.”
Mauro said his support at city council, which will consider the proposal as part of its 2022 budget deliberations in January and February, is far less certain.
“I’m not sure that I’m supportive of a $56 million build,” he said Tuesday. “I’ve been very clear about that in the conversations we’ve had at the Police Services Board level."
“Obviously it’s a major ticket item. I think we can and need to look harder at other possible solutions there. Obviously work needs to be done on the building. That’s ultimately going to be a decision of this council to wrestle with [over] the next two or three months.”
At a public meeting held by Thunder Bay's five at-large city councillors last week, Coun. Mark Bentz encouraged the public to weigh in on the police station proposal, saying it would likely force the city to take on large amounts of debt.
“Certainly we’re looking for feedback from the public on this project,” he said. “It’s going to certainly impact taxes, and it’s certainly a large ask.”
Councillors have previously expressed skepticism over the proposal’s cost, though consultants indicated in the long run, a new build would prove cheaper than alternatives like renovating the existing building or building smaller satellite stations.
The Thunder Bay Police Services Board voted in April to endorse the proposal for a centralized facility in a new location at a target cost of $56 million.
The board will request a commitment of $6.1 million in the 2022 city budget for land acquisition and the development of tender documents.
The current Balmoral Street station was constructed over 40 years ago. Police have said it falls far short of meeting their current needs.
On Tuesday, Mauro also addressed topics including a recent letter from the Thunder Bay Police Association slamming police leadership.
Mauro said it wasn’t currently appropriate for him to meet with the TBPA president. He did not specify if that was because of recently revealed legal action involving the Police Services Board and the service itself.
Mauro said “we’re doing everything we can to support” frontline officers, and endorsed the response to the letter from Coun. Kristen Oliver, who chairs the Police Services Board.
