AUBURN — The Police Department will move out of its 1 Minot Ave. station and into Auburn Hall this year to save money, councilors decided Monday.

Police Chief Phil Crowell said administration and detectives would move to the city hall’s third floor by March, and the patrol division would move into the basement in April or May. The entire move would be finished by June 30, when the fiscal year ends.

The move makes financial sense, City Manager Glenn Aho told councilors.

“The city’s goal has long been to reduce overhead and to reduce costs,” Aho said. “This particular maneuver does not reduce services, but it does reduce the city’s overhead.”

According to plans, the city will use $40,000 set aside to purchase a new heating and ventilation system for the 1 Minot Ave. building to renovate the basement of Auburn Hall.

Plans call for securing the bottom entrance, across from the Mechanics Row Parking Garage. The city will install a gate at the top of stairs across from that entrance, blocking off the rest of Auburn Hall municipal offices. The city will secure the entrance, adding intercoms, security cameras and telephones to the L-A 911 call center.

The move will save at least $57,000 a year on fuel, electricity and general repairs and put off an estimated $200,000 in future repairs, Aho said.

It replaces a plan for a revamped police station or a combined public safety office. Those plans are done, Aho said.

“This is a change for the long term,” he said. Building a public safety complex would cost millions of dollars.

“And that goes against what a lot of Auburn taxpayers expect now,” Aho said.

The city plans to sell the old station, Aho said.

Crowell said the change would give the police more space and put them closer to downtown. “Our location now is a challenge for us,” he said.

Councilors voted 5-2 to let the police use the heating money for Auburn Hall renovations, with at-large Councilors Belinda Gerry and Eric Samson both opposing it.

Samson said he felt the city would be better off adding to the 1 Minot Ave. space or building a larger station.

“My fear is that we are investing our money in a temporary place for the police here,” he said. “I think we would be better off thinking long term and spending money on renovating the current station.”

Gerry said she was worried that criminals would be able to mix with other citizens easier.

“What’s going to stop some person who has a problem with the police from coming up here when we are in session and making trouble?” she asked.

She was also concerned about police cruisers taking up space in the Mechanics Row parking garage and police presence and their need to respond to emergencies putting a damper on downtown festivals.

Crowell said the police already keep an active presence during festivals and having the station downtown would make that easier.

But Gerry said she also objected to how the matter was brought before councilors. It was mentioned in two of Manager Aho’s weekly memos to the city, but councilors had not discussed it.

“I was quoted before saying I felt like the city manager played keep away from the councilors with some information,” Gerry said. “This is the kind of thing I was talking about. We need to have more meetings, workshop meetings where we talk about these things.”

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