The North Bay Police Board has approved the capital budget for $3.38 million which North Bay Police Chief Daryl Longworth says was brought down $500,000.
That comes on the heels of the Police Board approving a 2025 operating budget which comes with a 12.79 per cent increase from 2024.
North Bay Police Chief Daryl Longworth says they worked long and hard to bring it down from the initial 18.37 per cent increase.
Maggie Horsfield, who sits on the North Bay Police Board and also wears the hat of budget chief with the City of North Bay, believes the budget makes sense.
"The capital budget for the police service these investments are extremely important and we need to make sure that we're providing them with the tools they need to be able to do their job efficiently and adequately," said Horsfield after Wednesday's North Bay Police Board monthly meeting.
See related: North Bay Police in need of new radio system
See related: North Bay Police looking for significant budget increase in 2025
Just like the operating budget, the North Bay Police capital budget will need approval from City Council.
Radio and police building alerts
Chief Longworth notes that a necessity in this budget is an upgrade to their aging radio system.
"The big surprise is the radio infrastructure, and that was never previously in the capital budget, so it's a new ad this year," said Longworth.
"It is something that is definitely needed. the infrastructure and the hardware won't be supported after 2025, so this is something we have to jump into and just get our officers so they can communicate with each other in the field and it provides them with that safety service to the community.
"It's critical for our officers to talk to home base or talk to each other. I mean, that's their lifeline."
Longworth has been the North Bay Police Chief for less than a year but he is already recognizing the concerns with North Bay Police Headquarters.
The last time the issue came up was back in 2022 when Chief Scott Tod brought up those building concerns prior to the municipal election.
In 2017, under the watch of then Chief Shawn Devine, the North Bay Police Board received a Facility Report and a 200 plus-page document that offered up three possible options for the future of the headquarters including two involving renovations and the other to build on a new site.
Longworth says the current budget will address some electrical issues in the aging building but he admits a project of this size will take time.
"How much money do you put into a building that's lifespan maybe finite in the near future, so I do have some money set aside to do some big projects on building needs assessment and what do we need as an organization? What what footprint and what building needs do we have? And then what can this building offer us? And then what are some options out there for us to explore, to look at, so I can go back to the board and go back to the to the city and say here's some hard data on what we need and what we need to look for it. and and then start those conversations about what that looks for and get to the ball rolling about how that those needs get addressed," he said.
Longworth says he would love to be able to start the project tomorrow, but that's not feasible.
"I think realistically we're probably looking at a seven to 10 year project.
"I really want to do the assessment first and really identify where the best spot, you know, not just our knees, but where is the best spot to put a a building if we need to, can we expand on this footprint? Do we need a new building? Can we take an existing building and and retrofit it to our needs? Those are big questions that we need to be answered before we start looking at property."
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