At long last, a new police station?

The Mammoth Lakes Police station is, to put it delicately, outdated. The Town currently leases the building, which was not built to house the Police Department, and lacks basic infrastructure such as a sally port and holding cell.

In the past, former Chief Dan Watson proposed that the Town move the Police Department from its Old Mammoth Road location into the Mammoth Lakes Tourism building next to the U.S. Forest Service Welcome Center along Highway 203.

At that time, he deadpanned that the current station “has been a short-term solution [for housing the department] for 27 years.”

No surprise then that new Police Chief Al Davis greeted news that the Town is pursuing a refinance to generate about $2 million for a new police station with a single word: “Woohoo!”

The new station would be built on Town-owned land next to the Mono County courthouse. While Town Manager Dan Holler said that land was originally intended for a 13,000-square foot facility that would have included underground parking and a jail, the new 4,500-square foot police station will be designed to accommodate future expansions.

Holler said the current station lease is set to expire in December 2017, and that the Town could have the new station built by that same year.

The proposed debt refinancing is possible because Mammoth’s bond rate has continued to rise since its plunge after the Town announced its intention to declare bankruptcy in 2012. Holler said the Town initially shopped the refinance out to four or five banks, but “none of them were interested in financing something in Mammoth.”

With the recent bump in the Town’s bond rating from a triple B- to a triple B, one bank subsequently expressed interest.

“Investment folks see the Town is improving its financial position,” Holler said. “Ideally we would like an A, A-, but that will take some time.”

Holler said that this is a particularly good time to refinance the Town’s debt with bonds, as the Town will be able to exchange its current interest rate of 6.43 percent for 3.5 percent. Town staff proposed issuing about $3.6 million in bonds, with about $1.5 million designated to refund current Certificates of Participation (COPs), and $2 million designated to the new police station.

“Ultimately we will do either a private placement with a bank, or, if not, we’ll put it out to a public offering,” Holler said. The proposed term for the new bond purchase is 15 years.

Chief Davis said that while Police Department staff has been working to clean up and repaint the current station “to take pride in what we have,” he welcomed the possibility of a new station.

“The current building is not laid out for a police station,” he said. “That’s most important from a workflow and security standpoint.” Chief Davis said he’s currently researching what kind of police station the Town could afford to build.

“It’s nice to be able to look forward and know that there’s a potential light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.