Middletown Public Safety 911 Center Building Committee Meeting – April 8, 2026

The Public Safety 911 Center Building Committee met in hybrid format in the Middletown Police Department Community Room and via WebEx. The audio transcript says the meeting was on March 26 and was called to order at 5:03 p.m., while the supplied meeting metadata says 2026-04-08 10:00 UTC; this summary uses the supplied date and notes the discrepancy. The main business was reviewing schematic design cost estimates for the new 911 center, discussing a telephonic recorder purchase, and approving two invoices.

Public Comments & Testimony

• No members of the public offered comment, either in the room or through WebEx.

Consent Calendar

• Meeting minutes from January 22, 2026 and February 26, 2026 were approved by voice vote.

Director's Report

• The director said he has been working with specialty vendors on quotes, including municipal radio alarm consoles that monitor fire alarms, burglar alarms, and Wesleyan security alarms throughout the city.
• The design team is also working with Cybex for dispatch consoles, NORCOM for local radio work, and other specialty vendors for the radio project.
• GeoDesigns, the geotechnical engineer, had delayed its site visit; the crew was expected on site the following Monday or Tuesday.
• Juliano Associates, the land surveyor, was progressing and expected to be done by the next meeting.
• The telephonic/recorder issue remains unresolved: there is still no city-side funding in CIP or CNR, a workaround exists but is not ideal, and a decision is still needed.
• The director will be on vacation April 10-20, 2026, returning for the budget meeting near April 20.

Discussion: Schematic Design Cost Estimates

The design consultant presented a large schematic design cost estimate comparing two project scopes for the new emergency communications center.

Option A / All-in option:

• About 7,760 square feet, including the emergency communications mission spaces, a training room, conference room, fitness area, and public amenities.
• Net construction cost estimate: $6.142 million, with about $4.3 million for the building and $1.8 million for site work.
• Contractor markups, contingencies, escalation, general requirements, bond, insurance, and profit total about $2.1 million, bringing total construction costs to about $8.2 million.
• Soft costs, including design fees, loose equipment and furniture, radio systems, fire alarm systems, and project development, are about $1.937 million.
• With 5% contingencies on hard and soft costs, the total project cost is about $10.6 million, roughly $600,000 over the $10 million limit.
• With selected alternates, the summary total was about $10.5 million.

Option B / Value-engineered option:

• About 5,657 square feet, removing the training and conference rooms, as well as the associated parking and storm-water work.
• Net construction cost: about $4.8 million; total construction cost about $6.436 million.
• Soft costs are about $1.8 million; the total project cost is about $8.7 million, or about $8.6 million with selected alternates.

Alternates considered:

• Centralized UPS power system: $87,000 add alternate. The dispatcher-side staff said the current 911 center operates well with a centralized UPS system, includes about 45 minutes of battery backup, and has a good maintenance contract with Eaton; others noted a centralized UPS is a single point of failure.
• Redundant power feed from the high school fuel cell: about $560,000 add alternate. This requires a long trench, conduit, and panel work at the school. The fuel cell runs almost continuously except for roughly one week a year and already produces excess power. It could also be provisioned for later if not selected now.
• Brick masonry instead of insulated metal panels: about $250,000 deduct for Option A and about $174,000 deduct for Option B. The brick was described as more inherently ballistic-resistant and cost-effective.

Committee discussion:

• The chair repeatedly said the common council sent a clear message that the project must not exceed $10 million: “We have 10 million to spend on this, not a penny more.”
• Several members were reluctant to put the over-budget Option A out to bid and hope for savings, calling that approach potentially insincere and saying the committee should not knowingly bid a project that has no way to pass the budget marker.
• Operational staff emphasized that Option B eliminates needed training and meeting space; there would be nowhere to host telecommunicator meetings, interviews, or training. One participant raised that the existing emergency training/EOC room is dated and was configured for training needs.
• An online member said they “love Option A” and suggested trying to keep the training space while reducing size through consolidation, such as combining break room/kitchenette space and absorbing the conference room.
• The committee asked for a “Plan C”: reduce the training room from 40-person capacity to roughly 25-30 person capacity, remove the conference room, simplify the kitchenette/break room, reduce restrooms, and cut about 750 square feet. Because the estimate is about $1,000 per square foot, the committee believes this may save about $750,000 and enable the project to stay within the $10 million cap while retaining some training capability.

Old Business: Telephonic Recorder Purchase

• The committee untabled the item for discussion.
• The current analog recorder cannot be updated to record new radio channels under the existing workaround. If police or fire added an new radio channel, the 911 center could not record it as required by FOIA obligations.
• The recorder purchase was tied to the existing project budget, but many members were concerned that the new building is two or more years away and the equipment could be productively obsolete by then.
• The committee decided not to the buy the recorder from project funds; the motion to approve failed. The item should instead be handled through city-side CIP/CNR funding if still needed.

New Business — Approvals

• Approved $8,250 to Tecton for work performed through February 28, 2026.
• Approved $3,900 to Juliano Associates, the land surveyor, to complete the remaining survey work and the retainer authorization.

Key Outcomes

• Approved the January 22, 2026 and February 26, 2026 minutes.
• Deferred final scope decision on the 911 center; design team was directed to prepare a “Plan C” with reduced training/meeting spaces and bring a revised cost estimate to the next meeting.
• Reaffirmed the $10 million absolute project cap.
• Declined to approve the telephonic recorder purchase from project funds; referred the need to normal city-side funding channels.
• Approved Tecton and Juliana Associates invoices.
• The meeting adjourned at about 6:02 p.m. according to the audio transcript.