Saugeen Shores needs a new police station, and it needs it as soon as possible.
That's the message from Chief Dan Rivett, who says their current station was undersized when it was built in 2000 and the problem is even worse with nearly 15 years of evidence stored all over the building.
He says the heating and cooling system is also a major problem, but they haven't been able to find anybody who can fix it because the system is complicated by being tied-in to the adjacent arena complex.
Rivett says the heating system functions so poorly, they have to put space heaters in the cells to keep prisoners warm.
Rivett says they have had architectural drawings created for three possible scenarios, including a renovation to the current station, a new stand-alone police station, and a new police station shared with Bruce County EMS.
The cost could be at least $3-million to renovate by adding a second-floor, and as high as $7-million if they share a new building with paramedics.
Rivett is requesting $70,000 from Saugeen Shores council to create more storage space at the current police station, while the request for a new police station is planned to come forward in 2016.
"We've moved forward to start getting architectural drawings, conceptual drawings, of what it would look like in the three scenarios that I've placed. I recognize fully this is a huge expenditure to be putting forth to anybody, but we need it," says Rivett.