OLD SAYBROOK - After extended discussion of architect Brian Humes's space needs study, the Police Station Building Committee has voted to adopt it as a design guide for the new police station. The committee also voted to ask the Board of Selectmen to hire an architect charged to develop a schematic design for a new station at 36 Lynde Street.

The department has been headquartered in a temporarily leased station at 6 Custom Drive following the March 2010 flood that left the former Main Street station unoccupiable.

The future station site on Lynde Street is a 3.8-acre parcel with a parking lot and a 13,234 square-foot, reinforced concrete block building. The town has already negotiated a deal to buy the parcel for $1.2 million from its current owner, SBC Communications.

Lynde Street remains the preferred site. To date, the town's due diligence investigation has uncovered no obstacles to moving forward with the purchase. Also, the state Public Utility Regulatory Authority has signaled to the town it will support the sale of the utility property to the town.

With the target site for the new station settled, the Police Station Building Committee had to decide the types and sizes of spaces the police department needs in its new station. For three hours, members of the committee went line by line and page by page through the study. From the growth estimates and staff projections on pages one and two through the site considerations listed on pages 28 to 30, all were discussed to assure the committee understood-and agreed with-Humes's assumptions.

Discussion began with the staff projection assumptions. Humes's study found that the department, now with 25 full-time sworn officers and one part-time officer, could grow to 30 full-time officers in 20 years. This number drives the number of lockers and number of workstations for which an architect plans. In addition, statewide, the trend is for more female police officers than was common in recent years. These factors should be addressed in the station design guide and the final plans.

Spera said the department currently has 50 employees including dispatchers, sworn officers, and civilians. Some of them work part-time and only during the day shift. The space needs study suggests the design plan for 30 patrol officers and 15 civilian staff, at a minimum.

"We didn't tell Brian [Humes] how many lockers to include," said Police Chief Michael Spera.

The study also lists which spaces would be shared by more than one individual. For example, the Criminal Investigations room should include workstations for three officers; the youth officer room, two officer work stations; and a patrol squad room should be equipped with a counter with four computer workstations.

In the station Dispatch Center, Humes assumes a need to plan for three console positions. Included within the center, too, are lockers for dispatchers, a kitchenette, and a restroom that is handicap accessible. Since dispatchers must remain in the dispatch center while on duty, these are typical features in police dispatch center designs.

One space that generated discussion was the proposed 1,000 square foot training classroom/meeting room space. Humes explained that police departments that host regional training sessions require a training room large enough to seat 50 individuals seated at tables. As a point of comparison, he said that the Town Hall conference room where the committee was meeting was about 750 square feet.

Unlike the public training/meeting room, another police station space, the department's roll call room, needs to be a private meeting and briefing space. Whether a station space is for public or private use drives design including access and support facilities.

One public bathroom is listed as a station need. Humes notes that access to the public bathroom should be provided from the station's public lobby.

With the existing building at Lynde Street at 13,234 square feet, an addition would be needed to accommodate the space needs study's recommended 18,500 square feet of headquarters and 4,770 square feet of storage outbuildings.

First Selectman Carl Fortuna, Jr. said that the town's Board of Selectmen this month will hire an architect to prepare schematic designs for a new police station at 36 Lynde Street. Brian Humes, when asked by the committee the cost for this work, estimated $10,000.