FARMINGTON — Farmington Police Department and town officials showed their appreciation Wednesday to police garage donor, Richard Bjorn and family. The department moved in last Friday.

A plaque acknowledging the gift is posted near the entrance of the garage.

“I didn’t give the money for a plaque,” Bjorn said.

Town Manager Richard Davis responded, “We can always count on you to step up to the plate.”

Bjorn came forward last spring to provide $50,000 of the approximately $94,000 needed for the garage so that it could be completed in 2012.

“It wouldn’t have been built without your help,” Peck said.

A final tour of the construction was held in November, and police have used it some over the winter, Peck said. Work on a small drainage issue was completed on the three-bay garage last Friday, allowing the department to move in.

“It wasn’t a big issue, but we wanted to get it done right,” Peck said of the standing water on the floor, which was corrected by increasing the slope of the drainage.

Except for the work needed on town roads, the town’s infrastructure is in good shape, Davis said of the work now completed for the Police Department.

Peck has included funding to seal the paved parking lot in the department’s budget this year, but other than that, “we’re in great shape,” he said.

During a town meeting last March, voters decided to start a reserve account of $25,000 a year for three years to fund a police garage at the new Franklin Avenue police station.

Bjorn toured the police station and thought they did need the garage. He offered to pay the cost above the voter-approved amount to build the garage in 2012, an anticipated $50,000.

When bids came in closer to $100,000, another $25,000 was approved by voters at a special town meeting in August.

The contractor, Care & Comfort of Waterville, was the low bidder for the three-bay, two-story garage. The architect was Bunker & Savage Architects of Augusta.

The heated unit provides space for police to bring in a vehicle for a search, a secured storage area for evidence and a place to hold and/or wash three of the department’s four vehicles.

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