Elburn officials consider spring referendum for new police station

The Elburn Village Board is moving toward putting a referendum on the April consolidated election ballot for the construction of a new police station on Anderson Road after the police department’s citizen task force issued its recommendation at Monday’s meeting.

The task force chose an 18,000-square-foot facility option with a modular design that allows for future additions. The cost would be about $9.9 million, which for taxpayers would mean an additional $100 for every $100,000 of property value over the period of 20 years.

“It’s not cheap, but it’s for the safety of the officers, the town and the businesses,” task force representative Ken Gustafson said at the meeting. “Nobody wants to pay more taxes, but you want to be safe.”

Gustafson said the committee likes the site, which is on Anderson Road south of Keslinger Road and provides easy access to all parts of town.

“It was purchased at a steal at $25,000 and the utilities are already there,” he said.

The village considered a referendum for the Nov. 8 general election, but decided to wait for the consolidated election in April to give residents a chance to learn more about the plan for the new building, how it will affect them and the advantages a new facility will provide.

Results from a recent mail-in survey of Elburn residents reflected a 50/50 split for support for the new station.

Laying out the challenges of the current facility, which takes up 1,900 square feet in the east half of Elburn Village Hall, Gustafson said it “is not going to serve us for any length of time.”

Among the drawbacks he presented is the lack of a licensed holding facility, which means people arrested in Elburn must be transferred to the Kane County Jail.

Gustafson also said there is not a secure parking structure through which to bring prisoners into the facility for booking, leaving opportunities for escape, and no room to safely process and properly store evidence or secure weapons.

He said the building’s materials, basically drywall and wooden doors, are inadequate for a safe facility.

“A couple of weeks ago, a prisoner didn’t just kick down the door to escape, he was able to kick the entire frame out,” Gustafson said.

The next step is for the board to adopt a resolution that will begin the process of putting the referendum on the ballot.