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'Unsafe' rooms trigger debate
By MATTHEW WAITE, Times Staff Writer
PORT RICHEY -- Dale Massad is struggling with the idea of the city building a holding cell someone can crawl out of and an evidence room someone can crawl into. "This is akin to building a bathroom without a toilet or a sink," Massad said Tuesday night. Massad and his fellow Port Richey City Council members angrily questioned city staffers Tuesday night about the holding cell and evidence room, the subjects of a recent St. Petersburg Times story. The Police Department can't use the rooms, which were built last year, because they were installed with suspended ceilings. Police Chief Bill Downs has said the rooms are "unsafe" and he jokingly illustrates the problem by talking about his fears of a criminal suspect falling through the ceiling onto his desk. Few were joking Tuesday night. Downs and assistant to the City Manager Lou Clini clashed over the project, accusing the other of not telling the truth. Clini oversaw the construction of city hall and said Downs had the chance to talk to the architects about his department's needs. Downs said he pointed out several changes needed to make the rooms secure. "Every one of them were denied by Mr. Clini," Downs told the council. "That's not true, Bill," Clini shot back. City Manager Vince Lupo said what was supposed to be added to the rooms was a steel mesh cage that goes over the ceilings. That cage, Lupo said, would cost $7,600. To build the rooms according to standards needed for accreditation, Lupo said the costs went up to as much as $100,000. What got built, he said, was a compromise between the budget and the department's needs. "We attempted to utilize funds to the best of our ability," Lupo said. "What you have now is exactly that." That did little to please council members, who voted to withhold the final $58,000 payment to the contractor that built the $1.7-million city hall, Bandes Construction. "I find it very irresponsible that we've completed and were going to finalize the project ... and we don't have facilities in the Police Department that they were designed for," Mayor Eloise Taylor said. "Are you telling me, Lou (Clini), that we designed a police department . . . with a cell that you can climb out of?" Massad asked. "We have an evidence room and a jail cell that you can climb in and out of. I've seen it. I don't know how that is possible." "They ought to know what a holding cell is," council member Bill Bennett said of architects and engineers. The council asked Lupo to have representatives from Bandes and architects from the Muse Organization at their Feb. 25 meeting to answer questions about the holding cell and evidence room. Several residents said they, too, were angered. "This is a shame this is a year later," said Maureen Shore. "I think a 5-year-old child could tell you that you need a solid surface on the ceiling (of those rooms)." -- Matthew Waite covers Port Richey city government. He can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6247, or toll free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6247. His e-mail address is waite@sptimes.com .
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From today's Pasco Times |
