Committee considering various options for expanded police facilities

By Scott Benjamin

BROOKFIELD – It appears that a recommendation will be made for the town’s priority capital project before the next Stanley Cup champion is crowned.

Former Police Chief Jay Purcell said that the seven-member Police Facilities ad-hoc committee that he chairs, is considering expanding the current headquarters on Silvermine Road or "building new" at sites on municipal property and possibly commercial parcels that “may or may not be available.”

First Selectman Steve Dunn and Selectmen Tara Carr and Bob Belden have said the expansion of the headquarters, which opened in the 1980s, of a new facility must take precedence over expanding library facilities or developing a community center at the site of the former Center Elementary School (CES).

Purcell, who served on the police force for nearly 40 years and was in leadership positions for more than 20 years, said during the Monday night, July 7, Board of Selectmen’s meeting that the ad-hoc committee plans to submit its recommendation next June.

The panel was organized in January and is currently considering expanding the current headquarters east and west, which would go into areas where there is a soccer field and septic fields. It also is studying whether to build a new headquarters on the north section of the municipal property along Pocono and Silvermine roads.

Other options include building on the CES site along Route 133 or commercial properties that might be up for sale.

Dunn said that Newtown’s headquarters, which opened in 2020, was constructed in what had been the administrative complex for Taunton Press. Purcell said Newtown built an addition onto the existing building.

Purcell noted that purchasing a commercial parcel “adds cost to the project.”

He added that the committee recently toured the Newtown police headquarters to examine what a “similarly-sized” police department looks like and get feedback from David Kullgren, the Newtown police chief.

Purcell said the members also have toured the Brookfield police headquarters and received feedback from the staff there and from the members of the Police Commission.

He said the committee is about to distribute a survey to the police staff and will send a survey to residents in the future.

Purcell commented that some committee members are preparing a video tour of the current headquarters with “an eye toward illustrating to the public” on the “challenges and inefficiencies in the current building and the need for new construction.”

In response to a question from Carr, he said that to meet the federal law enforcement standards, the new construction would, among other things, need to include additional space for evidence storage and for custody and cells.

He added that the committee may ask the selectmen to seek funds to help update a 2017 police facilities’ needs study.

Dunn recently told Patch,.com that in the coming weeks he will seek support from the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Finance to hire a planner to address the upcoming capital projects.

The municipal library officials have been seeking additional space since at least 1999. The current library on Whisconier Road opened in 1975 and reportedly is smaller than libraries in municipalities of similar size in western Connecticut. Dunn has said that the Parks & Recreation Department has interest in utilizing the gymnasium space at CES.

A separate ad-hoc committee is studying the future of the CES suite. Dunn recently told Patch.com that it is currently doing a structural review to determine whether to renovate the current structure or tear it down and use the parcel for a new building that might include a library, community center and Parks & Recreation activities.

Dunn said that during a recent Board of Finance meeting there was discussion about the possibility that following the upcoming construction there could be an empty police headquarters on Silvermine Road and an empty library on Whisconier Road. He underscored that is why a planner is needed to fit the “pieces” into the puzzle.

Dunn has said that the town would not be in position to finance any major capital projects until at least 2026 when all of the bond payments will have been made for the renovation of Brookfield High School. That project was approved at referendum in 2003.

Dunn and Belden have said that they want to have price tags for both the police facilities and the future use of CES before the referendum is held on expanding the police facilities, so that voters will be able to determine the long-term financial impact financial.