The journey to build the massive Oviedo Police Headquarters includes years of delays, discourse and multi-million-dollar voter approval for construction, and has since rejected millions of more city requests in consecutive referendums.
But earlier this week, city leaders took a major step towards expanding the long-convulsing police station.
Council members on Monday built a 10,000-square-foot appendix next to police headquarters off the coast of Alexandria Boulevard, approved for an estimated $9.7 million.
“It’s great to see something happen,” said Chiefdale Coleman, a long-awaited complaint in the current 11,000-square-foot public safety building in the burgeoning city of Seminole County.
The Oviedo police station has 82 employees, including 73 sworn police officers. It was almost doubled when the headquarters was built in 1990. As a result, officers and detectives often need to share cubicles. There is also no storage space for evidence or an area for the K-9 police dog unit.
In 2016, voters approved the referendum, allowing the city to borrow up to $11.4 million from the new police building. However, the project never made progress as city and police leaders failed to agree on the size of the building.
In November 2023, voters were rejected nearly 64% in a second debt referendum, which was asked to borrow an additional $35.5 million in addition to the previous $11.4 million for the project. Then, on November 5th, voters rose 58% in search of borrowing up to $20 million against a $330 million building.
That gave me the authority to borrow $11.4 million for the project, but up until now there was no direction.
“My favorite question is how quickly do you move this forward,” Council member Natalie Teuhart said he agreed to the Annex at Monday’s meeting after joining Mayor Megan Thread and Council members Jeff Bodyford and Alan Ott. Councillor Keith Britton did not attend the meeting.
Council members will review additional annex plans proposed at the public meeting in March before hiring contractors. City officials can then estimate the dates for construction to begin and end.
Mayor Brian Cobb said that building the annex at estimated costs would leave Oviedo with $1.7 million left. Still, the amount borrowed will be repaid primarily through property tax revenue.
The new annex includes training rooms, offices and ample space for storage, officials said.
Council members declined an alternative to completely renovating the existing building at a cost of $13 million. City staff said they would need to borrow an additional $1.5 million in funding source or find a source of funding.
“I’m in favor of annex,” Coleman told councillors. “I think it gives us a blank slate to design the building and design everything inside it for the needs they need. …more advantageous.”
Sladek agreed: “It makes the most sense.”
momas@orlandosentinel.com
Original issue: 6am Eastern Standard Time, March 1, 2025
