Town ponders new police headquarters

Renderings of a possible police headquarters. KG+D Architects Graphic

By NEAL RENTZ

The Lewisboro Town Board is considering the construction of a new police headquarters on the property that houses a New York State Police station and the town Highway Department. 

The board heard a proposal Nov. 24 from KG+D Architects of Mount Kisco.

The town is currently renting space for its police operations on the campus of the former Lewisboro Elementary School in an arrangement that will soon end.

KG+D principal Erik Kaeyer told the board the proposed facility would be located at 81 Spring St., South Salem. If it goes forward, the state police station would move, Kaeyer noted. The board was shown renderings of a structure that looks like a large house. 

“These are concept plans,” Supervisor Tony Gonçalves said.

The roughly 10,000-square-foot per building would have a roughly 5,000-square-foot first floor and an approximately 5,000-square-foot basement with a two-bay garage, which would be used by police officers to bring arrestees into the building, Kaeyer said.

Some of the features of the first floor include an emergency management training room, a room for arrest processing and offices for the police chief, detectives and lieutenants. 

The proposed headquarters would include a secured parking lot for the police officers’ own cars and town-owned vehicles, with some solar power canopied spaces, main building access for the public, a new septic system with septic being piped to the rear of the department of public works lot, and an outdoor terrace for training and general use, Kaeyer said. 

Councilman Richard Sklarin asked about state requirements when building a police headquarters.

“There’s no uniform standards for a police station,” Kaeyer replied. 

Councilwoman Andrea Rendo said the town might have female officers in the future and there needed to be facilities where they could shower and change, separate from the men. Kaeyer said the plans include a smaller room with four lockers and a bathroom that could be used separately by female officers. 

Kaeyer recommended that town officials speak with local modular building companies about the potential new headquarters, show them the plans and ask them to bid out the project. The new building could consist of six modular boxes that would be brought to the site via tractor-trailers, he said. The modular format could be less expensive than constructing the new building totally on-site, which would require paying the prevailing wage, because it would be a public building, he said.

A similar police headquarters project discussed by another area municipality cost $5 million, he said, adding that project was not a modular building. (The Pound Ridge Town Board has been discussing a similar project with that potential price.)

The next step would be for the Westchester County Department of Health to determine if the portion of the property that would contain the new septic system would work, Gonçalves said, noting county officials are scheduled to visit the property next week.  

Preliminary budget approved

The Town Board voted unanimously to approve a preliminary $16.58 million 2026 budget which would include a tax increase of 4.19%. The state-mandated tax cap next year for the town is 2.5%.The preliminary budget increases spending by $734,744.

The board can make additional changes in next year’s budget before it votes on its last version of the ledger next month. A public hearing is set for Monday, Dec. 8.