With Nearly $5.5M Set Aside, New Police Department Building Planning will Continue at Council Meeting
By Jeff Toquinto on May 13, 2024
A full agenda of items of Bridgeport City Council Monday will likely see the majority of it taking place in executive session.
Monday’s regular meeting begins at 7 p.m. at the Bridgeport Municipal Complex. It will be preceded by a 6 p.m. work session that Mayor Andy Lang also said will likely be in an executive session.
One of the items under new business involves an advance construction planning discussion on the new Bridgeport Police Department. Because of that, it, too, will be in executive session.
Lang said the consultant, MWS (Manns Woodward Solutions) out of Baltimore will work with the city on narrowing the scope of all the items required, the square footage needed for each area, and the cost associated with everything. The goal is to eventually determine
those items and then begin construction documents that can be put out to bid.
those items and then begin construction documents that can be put out to bid.
“We’ll really look at funding this time around; as to how much the components of the new department will cost,” said Lang.
The process is not new, and Lang said a new building will not be complete in the immediate future. He said, for certain, there will be no groundbreaking in 2024, and would not speculate if a groundbreaking would happen in 2025.
“We want to get this done, but we want to do it right and having the police department with a current home makes it easier not to rush things,” said Lang.
Council has been working on this for the last few years and, to make the process easier to swallow financially, has been escrowing funds to ease the burden that often comes with new capital projects that are multi-million dollar endeavors.
Bridgeport Finance Director Sharon Hinkle said that as of March 31 of this year, the city has set aside $2.3 million in escrow for the department. The are also ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) dollars totaling $3.1 million earmarked for the new department for a total of $5,464,838.
“We’re narrowing things from a 30,000-foot view of the project to a 20,000-foot view and so on. We’re going to look and what we need, why do we need it, how much square footage is required, and what is the cost,” said Lang. “When you start breaking down costs, you get closer to getting the work on construction documents going. Still, this is a process.”
Another key new business item involves talk on the city manager’s position. Bridgeport is now just a few months away from being without a city manager for a year after Brian Newton resigned from the post on July 31, 2023.
Shortly after Newton’s resignation, Police Chief Mark Rogers began serving as interim city manager. Council members were hopeful that the position would be filled by now. However, they were adamant that they would not settle for a candidate and would take the process out as long as necessary.
Lang said Council will likely discuss how to proceed with the search. “We’ll discuss all options,” Lang said. Due to it being a personnel matter, Lang said the discussion will be in executive session.
Another item under new business, as well as part of the 6 p.m. work session, is advanced construction planning on The Bridge. During the 6 p.m. work session, BRS Consulting will be on hand to talk about the master plan for The Bridge, including the site’s undeveloped property.
“This is our first look at the new plan after we hired BRS through the 5G process (bidding process required by the state) in hopes of looking at the existing facility and what to do with the balance of the property,” said Lang. “There will be recommendations on what to do in the years ahead … We are paying for this roadmap into the future development, but this planning will make it a much less bumpy ride.”
Droo Callahan, the general manager of The Bridge, said he believes the property that has already been built covers 126 acres. He said there are roughly up to 40 acres left to develop. Lang also said the possibility exists that additional acreage could be acquired if it is 
deemed necessary in the years ahead.
deemed necessary in the years ahead.
The rest of the agenda will be in open session. Under new business, Council being asked to act on General Fund Budget Revision #8. It will involve a few items, including coming up with $92,058 to pay for a 10-year plan for the city. The money will come from $32,000 in tax loss restoration funds not yet budgeted, and $60,058 in interest earnings due to higher interest rates.
The revision will add $51,110 to the police equipment account for funds received from the sale of police vehicles through Govdeals.com. The budget will also be increased by $1.9 million for B&O tax collections that will be transferred to the capital improvement fund.
Another item of new business involves the possibility of changing the date of the next Council meeting that falls on May 27 – Memorial Day. Council typically makes the change to the following day, in this case Tuesday, May 28, and that is what will be recommended.
The only item of unfinished business will see Council take the next, and final, step to rezone an 11.46-acre parcel from Business-2 (large scale commercial business) to Residential-3 (single family, multi-family, and duplex units) at the White Oaks development. The property is
the large lot above the future home of Jenkins Subaru and Jenkins Hyundai and is expected to be a seven-figure plus project one once built out.
the large lot above the future home of Jenkins Subaru and Jenkins Hyundai and is expected to be a seven-figure plus project one once built out.
Headlining the awards and presentations portion of the meeting will be the swearing in of Bridgeport Police Officer Clayton Bee. Bee recently completed training at the West Virginia State Police Academy and has begun training with a seasoned officer to get him ready to handle solo work.
There will be two proclamations under the same category. One proclamation will be for National Police Week, while the other proclamation will be for Huntington’s Disease Awareness Month.
The meeting will also include a report by Lang and Rogers. Retired Pastor Mike Hopkins of Simpson Creek Baptist Church will lead the invocation.
There is also a public forum near the start of the meeting for anyone wishing to address the city’s governing body.
Editor's Note: Top photo is of the Towne House Motor Lodge Motel prior to its demolitiion, while Mayor Andy Lang is shown in the second photo. In the third photo, The Bridge General Manager Droo Callahan addresses Council at a previous meeting. In the bottom photo, work is shown being done on the now level acreage that will house the proposed housing development at White Oaks as well as the future home to Jenkins Subaru and Jenkins Hyundai.
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