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The Dewey City Council breezed through a light agenda on Monday night at City Hall.

In the meeting, City Manager Kevin Trease gave an update on how the new police building is coming along on North Cherokee Avenue. He said it is getting closer to completion each day.

Electricians are currently in the facility placing a rack system for the Dewey Police Department's computers and phones. That is what they are waiting on right now.

City Manager Trease said Trigent will move the computers from the old police building located next to City Hall on Don Tyler Avenue to the new building when the time comes. He said Holtz Electric Inc. will install the phone system for the Dewey Police Department.

No official date has been set for when an open house for the facility will be held. That in mind, City Manager Trease said the punch list is getting smaller as they continue to work on the facility.

If the City of Dewey was to hire a contractor to work on the building, City Manager Trease said they would not have been able to afford the size of building that has been built. He said city employees knew they were going to have to do some of the work.

When the Dewey Police Department is able to move into their new home, they will have plenty of room to grow. City Manager Trease said they will have more than enough room to grow, and that the City of Dewey will not have to add onto the building.

The current police station is approximately 900-square feet and the new police station will be approximately 5,000-square feet. The added space for the police department is intended for efficiency and better organization.

City Manager Trease said the new police building will be up-to-date when it is finished. He personally worked on, and finished, the judge’s bench for the city courtroom. That same judge’s bench is expected to be stained this week.

One citizen during the Dewey City Council meeting thanked the City of Dewey and City Manager Trease for putting their personal time and work into the building. City Manager Trease said he is also looking to build wooden lockers for the police department to utilize.

As for the building as a whole, there will be a secretary desk when you enter through the front door that will be guarded by a wall and a pane of glass. Access into the rest of the building will eventually require a key fob that will only be possessed by current Dewey police officers.

In addition to this, there will be a City Court Room with benches and television screens. Towards the back of the building is the garage that Dewey's officers can enter through and bring inmates in for questioning. There are multiple offices, an interrogation room, a break room, a conference room, multiple bathrooms, and a shower that will be in the building as well.

All this was made possible thanks to $175,000 in project bond funds. City Manager Trease said these same funds have been used by city employees to work on smaller projects (i.e. the judge's bench) for the new police building.