Police Station Plan Heads Toward Council

A proposal to shift city funds previously designated for subway construction to purchase a Department of Water and Power building for use as an additional Valley police station and bureau should reach the City Council next Wednesday.

In a city Transportation Committee meeting Tuesday, DWP officials promised to present the city with a formal appraisal of the 300,000-square-foot building by Friday. Councilman and Transportation Committee chairman Richard Alarcon said he would make a recommendation concerning the purchase of the building to the full council next week.

The DWP’s Anthony Building, 8501 Arleta Ave., is 70% occupied by DWP employees, but continued relocation of agency employees to other offices will likely create additional space, said Frank Salas, DWP executive assistant to the general manager.

Alarcon has proposed purchasing the building largely for city use and then leasing the remaining office space back to the DWP.

In addition to housing the Valley’s second police bureau and its sixth police station, the building could house the Valley Traffic Bureau and alleviate overcrowding in other city departments, Alarcon suggested.

Deputy Police Chief Mike Bostic, who heads the Valley Bureau, said the Anthony Building is located within a few miles of the geographic center of the Valley and would therefore decrease his department’s response time.

“The Valley has always had the highest response time and part of the problem is that some of our divisions cover 60 square miles,” Bostic said.

To fund the purchase of the Anthony Building, Alarcon has proposed using a portion of the $142 million the city agreed to pay the MTA to assist with construction of subway extensions to North Hollywood, the Mid-City area and the Eastside. The MTA suspended the Mid-City and Eastside expansions because of funding problems, making the original agreement no longer valid, Alarcon said.

Because the city money designated for the MTA can be used only for transportation projects, Alarcon has proposed using the money for road resurfacing or other transportation projects paid out of the city’s general fund. Money earmarked in the general fund for those transportation projects would then be allocated to purchase the Anthony Building.