By Rich Pollack

    It has been on Highland Beach’s wish list since 2005,  and now it seems like the ball is finally rolling on plans to renovate a disjointed Town Hall and Police Department, with the goal of improving efficiency and making it easier to get from one end of the building to the other.

    Last month, Highland Beach town commissioners gave the green light to move toward hiring a construction manager for the estimated $825,000 renovations to the Police Department and outdated commission chambers. 

    The town is putting together a request for qualifications that it hopes to issue before the end of the month. Once a project manager is selected and a contract agreement is reached, renovations to Town Hall can begin. 

    Construction is expected to begin in the spring of next year and should take about six months, according to architect Mark Marsh of Bridges Marsh & Associates. 

    Town Hall now consists of two buildings, separated by a breezeway. While administrative offices and some Police Department spaces are in the north building, commission chambers and other police offices are in the south building,

    Marsh says the new plans unite the two buildings while upgrading the commission chambers and putting all Police Department functions under one roof.

    “The goal is to work within the existing building envelope to rearrange the available space to be more efficient,” Marsh said. Plans also call for an upgrade to restrooms to make them more accessible to the disabled.

    The idea of renovating buildings and making more room for the Police Department first surfaced in the 2005-2006 budget, according to town officials, but it was later withdrawn. The project continued to be discussed and was placed in the budget in 2010, but again funding never was made available.

    New life was breathed into the project in 2012 when the town hired Marsh to draw up plans. Town commissioners, however, delayed the project again last year during the budgeting process. 

    The current commission, in passing the 2013-2014 budget, agreed to take the estimated $825,000 for the project from reserve funds, leaving the town with $2.8 million in reserves.  

    Town officials hope to replenish those reserves with $3.5 million expected from a pending sale of town-owned land in Boca Raton — once used for water treatment facility — to a private developer. 

    The sale hit a snag earlier this month, however, when town officials and lawyers for the developer discovered an amendment to Boca Raton’s comprehensive land use plan would be needed to switch the use of the property from government utility to residential. 

    The process, according to Town Attorney Glen Torcivia, could take several additional months.

    “We have every reason to believe the sale will close but it may not happen until early spring,” Torcivia said.

    Town officials say delay of the land sale should not have an impact on the Town Hall renovation project.

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