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The Lafayette City Council unanimously approved a contract to Sausal Corporation to begin the work on the new police department at a recent meeting.
The city has had to find a new location for its police administration offices following the decision by the landlord at the current site in Desco Plaza in October last year not to renew the lease. The problem is that the department has outgrown the space and, among other issues, there are just too many police vehicles in that parking lot.
In November the city found a new location just east of Boswell's at 3471 Mt. Diablo Blvd., which must now be renovated and transformed into a police building.
Although initially the
police were expecting to have to be moved out of Desco Plaza by the end of June this year, the current landlord gave an extension for the space on the condition that they remove multiple vehicles from the parking lot beginning July 1, which has been done.
The delay in starting the work is largely due to the building's utility systems - water, sewer and electrical systems - having to be brought up to the standards required in a modern police station.
Lafayette City Manager Steve Falk said, "We thought the building was going to be a plug-and-play, but it requires more work than that."
The council heard from Lafayette City Engineer Tony Coe, who explained that Sausal Corporation came in as the lowest bidder at $1,387,300.
Coe said that the construction company is in the top 100 of California contractors in terms of annual revenue size. He added that Sausal has a portfolio of public projects including the Redwood Shores Library in Redwood City, the Alcosta Senior Center in San Ramon and various school buildings across the East Bay.
Coe hopes that work will start before the end of this month and should be completed by the beginning of 2018.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA