Salinas Public Works will present maximum cost of new police headquarters to council in May

Development in the City of Salinas is picking up. The City continues to move forward with plans to build a new $20-million dollar library and $50-million dollar police headquarters. According to Public Works, this is the first time in over a decade that two multi-million dollar construction projects are coming to fruition.

Right now public works is finalizing the budget for the Salinas Police Headquarters, before presenting the final numbers to City Council next month. Assistant Public Works Director Don Reynolds said they need to know the guaranteed maximum cost in order to get the project financed. On the other end of the project all of the 14 buildings that once stood at 312 Alisal Street have been demolished. Crews are now working to put up a fence around the property until the groundbreaking in August. Reynolds says it’s a busy time for Public Works.

“We have $35-million in street improvements to implement in the next three years, and then all the street slurry seal projects are now funded through Measure X and so public works is just going crazy trying to get things built as fast as possible,” said Reynolds.

According to Reynolds, the only negative thing with all the work going on, is that it puts a higher demand on the labor force. So the faster they can get things built, then the less expensive for tax payers.