Leggett Shelves 6th District Police Station

With no notice or warning, the plan to build a permanent 6th District police station has been pulled from Montgomery County’s long-term construction budget—an unexpected move that has stung community leaders and spurred promises of a political push to restore the $22 million project.

Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett's biennial update to the six-year Capital Improvement Program—unveiled on Tuesday—lays out $4.2 billion between fiscal 2013 and fiscal 2018, mostly for schools, roads and infrastructure projects that will set the groundwork for transit-oriented development in Shady Grove, Wheaton and White Flint.

Among the changes to the catalog of 200 or so projects: a note that the police station for the 6th District—which covers 200,000 residents in Montgomery Village and Gaithersburg—has been "deferred due to fiscal constraints."

The 29,000-square-foot station was introduced in Leggett’s CIP amendment four years ago. It will be built alongside the Spectrum at Watkins Mill, a mixed-use development on the former Casey East property off Rte. 355, where Watkins Mill Road will be extended to link up with Interstate 270.

Leggett's CIP amendment from two years ago put the station on course to begin 21 months of construction this month, but delays in the Watkins Mill Road extension have since pushed the timeline back. In January 2010, the 6th District's 120 personnel moved into a rented building in an office park west of I-270, near Clopper and Watkins Mill roads.

Determined not to exceed $295 million in capital spending per year, Leggett quietly decided earlier this month that the temporary space will suffice for the foreseeable future.

"The [County] Executive is trying to cut back on debt service and keep within the spending affordability guidelines," said Esther Bowring, a county spokeswoman. "This CIP he tried to make the decision to prioritize projects where leased space was not an option. This was one where the leased space is efficient and the debt service would have been very expensive."

For years, 6th District officers operated out of a cramped strip mall on Rte. 355 north of Montgomery Village Avenue. Moving to the interim station was a step up, but at 19,000 square feet, it is two-thirds the size of the proposed permanent one.

Community leaders have long lamented the lack of a permanent—and adequate—police station for the 6th District. News yesterday of Leggett’s decision only compounded their dismay.

"That’s something that we’ve been looking forward to for years now. Once again, it looks like the upcounty is getting crushed," said Sen. Nancy J. King (D-Dist. 39), a longtime Montgomery Village resident. "Today was the first I’d heard about it. That’s one of the problems I see as far as communication in the county. We could have talked about this before having to make a decision to take it out of the [budget]. We have no communication at all. That’s why we end up with stuff like this."

They are vowing to push the County Council—which has final budget say—to put the police station back into the CIP before OK'ing Leggett's proposal.

"When the 6th District station was moved from North Frederick Avenue to the west side of 270, we were told that it was only a temporary move until the new station would be built on Watkins Mill Road," said Bob Hydorn, president of the Montgomery Village Foundation’s board of directors. "The security and police response times for those who reside on the east side of 270 will be compromised by the County Executive's decision."

At least six of nine councilmembers would have to vote to restore the project in this year’s amendment.

Craig Rice, Montgomery Village’s representative on the County Council, did not return calls from Patch. Phil Andrews, Gaithersburg’s representative and chairman of the Public Safety Committee, could not be reached.

The council’s Public Safety Committee is set to address the CIP on Feb. 16.

If the 6th District station isn't restored to this CIP amendment, the next update will be in two years. Right now, Leggett has no indication of when the project will get back on track, Bowring said.

"There is a possibility that it could be revisited, should the economic situation change or the needs change," she said.