It was originally going to take Lathrop eight years to fully pay off the construction of the city’s new state-of-the-art police department in River Islands – the first purpose-built law enforcement building in the city’s history.
But development has been so strong in the last 18-months that the city has paid the building off in full – saving $5 million dollars that would have been paid in interest over the nearly decade-long span – before it was even formally put into use.
With the council last week approving the conditional acceptance of the building and the acceptance of the grant deed for the property, the city now begins the process of building maintenance and brings the facility online as an asset in the police department transformation process while the contractor finalizes the gas line connection, issues a warranty bond, and completes a commissioning report.
The building – which is located just across the Bradshaw’s Crossing Bridge in River Islands – formally cost $11,871,204, and as part of last week’s decision by the council, $795,000 was authorized to be used to recognize recently-collected development fees and complete the purchase of the building as was initially agreed to between the city and River Islands.
The decision to move forward with building a facility specifically for law enforcement use came back in 2017 when the council gave staff direction to find suitable locations and ultimately approved the agreements necessary to move forward with River Islands fronting the cost and receiving their payment in the form reduced development fees until the amount invested was recuperated.
Once River Islands is fully built out, the police department building will be geographically located in the middle of the city limits and provide equal distance to cover all points of the community.
It is unlikely that Lathrop Police Services will get the chance to occupy the building before the Lathrop Police Department formally takes over law enforcement responsibilities for the community next year – leaving the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office as the base of law enforcement operations until the formal transfer is complete.
Lathrop has been without a dedicated police department since late 2019 when the decision was made to walk away from the lease on the 7th Street building that served as the police station and temporarily relocate operations to French Camp until the new complex was complete.
The new building will cost Lathrop $12,666,204 – the $11,871,204 plus the $795,000 – and will consist of $5,290,955 in capital facilities fees from River Islands Development plus $7,375,249 in other capital facilities fee funds.
To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.
