Oviedo advances $10M police HQ annex after delays, voter rejection of asks for more funds
The journey to building a larger Oviedo police headquarters has involved years of delays, discourse, voter approval of millions of dollars for construction then rejection of city requests for millions more in back-to-back referendums.
But earlier this week city leaders took a major step toward expanding the long-cramped police station.
Council members Monday approved building a 10,000-square-foot annex next to police headquarters off Alexandria Boulevard for an estimated $9.7 million.
'It's nice to see something come to fruition,' said Chief Dale Coleman, who has long complained space is tight in the current 11,000-square-foot public safety building for the fast-growing Seminole County city.
Oviedo's Police Department has 82 employees, including 73 sworn officers — nearly double when the headquarters was built in 1990. As a result, officers and detectives often must share cubicles. There's also no storage space for evidence and or an area for K-9 police dog units.
In 2016, voters approved a referendum allowing the city to borrow up to $11.4 million for a new police building. But the project never advanced because city and police leaders couldn't agree on building size.
In November 2023, voters rejected by nearly 64% a second bond referendum asked to borrow an additional $35.5 million — on top of the previous $11.4 million — for the project. Then Nov. 5, voters rejected a third referendum by 58% asking to borrow up to $20.4 million for a nearly $32 million building.
That left the city with authority to borrow $11.4 million for the project but no direction — until now.
'My favorite question is: How fast do we get this moving forward,' Council member Natalie Teuchert said at Monday's meeting after joining Mayor Megan Sladek and council members Jeff Boddiford and Alan Ott in agreeing to the annex. Council member Keith Britton did not attend the meeting.
Council members will review additional plans for the proposed annex at a public meeting in March before hiring a contractor. City officials will then be able to estimate dates for starting and finishing construction.
City Manager Bryan Cobb said building the annex at the estimated cost would leave Oviedo with $1.7 million leftover, which could be used for security fencing and renovations to the existing police station. Even so, any amount borrowed would be paid back mostly with property tax revenues.
The new annex would include enough space for training rooms, offices and storage, officials said.
Council members turned down an alternative of completely renovating the existing building at a cost of $13 million. City staff said it would require borrowing or finding a source of funding for an additional $1.5 million.
'I'm in favor of the annex,' Coleman said to council members. 'I think it gives us a blank slate to design a building and design everything inside of it for the needs that we need. … It's more advantageous.'
Mayor Megan Sladek agreed: 'It makes the most sense."
mcomas@orlandosentinel.com
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
36 minutes ago
- Fox News
Progressive Chicago mayor advocates for new 1% grocery tax to help billion-dollar deficit
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson called for a 1% tax on groceries on Tuesday out of concerns about the city's massive deficit. Johnson's budget team met with the Committee on Finance: Subcommittee on Revenue to discuss the impending end to Illinois' grocery tax, which will expire on January 1, 2026. The city currently has until October 1 to pass a new tax to replace the expired one to maintain revenue continuity. During the meeting, Budget Director Annette Guzman argued in favor of the new tax, warning that the city could see an increase in its deficit and services cut without it. "Allowing that tax to lapse in 2026 would cost the corporate fund an estimated $80 million next year alone, further exacerbating our $1 billion-plus gap," Guzman said. "Nearly 200 other municipalities in Illinois — from Berwyn to Wheaton and beyond — have already voted to extend this grocery tax... If we fail to do the same, we will leave critical services on the chopping block." She pointed to the city's police department as a potential victim of budget cuts if taxes like this were not passed. "Roughly one-third of our corporate fund supports the police department and its related pension obligations. Without new revenue, staffing, training and community-based programs could face cuts," Guzman said. In a press briefing, Johnson advocated for the 1% increase by pointing out that the new tax would only replace the one currently in effect without adding additional taxes. "The City of Chicago will not enact its own grocery tax. The grocery tax already exists. There is a process in which the collection of the grocery tax is now being placed in the responsibility of municipalities," Johnson said on Tuesday. "We're not creating a grocery tax. We're just creating a process by which we can collect it." The city council has not yet voted on a replacement tax. Alderman Andre Vasquez pointed out during the meeting that a local tax was not included in Johnson's 2025 budget, which now puts the council in an awkward position. "Had it been included in the budget, it might have gotten done in a way that's going to feel a lot easier than this year," Vasquez said. "Hearing that 200 municipalities that already did it — it's a bit frustrating. It was a missed opportunity." Fox News Digital reached out to members of the committee for additional comment but did not immediately receive a response. Though the city council can pass a new tax increase after the October deadline, the City Council Office of Financial Analysis reported in May that collections on any new ordinances would not go into effect until mid-2026.
Axios
2 hours ago
- Axios
Exclusive: Dems press Trump admin. for response to China-backed cyberattacks
A group of Democratic lawmakers are pressing the Trump administration to clarify who is leading the government's efforts to eradicate China-backed hackers from U.S. critical infrastructure and telecom networks. Why it matters: Roughly 1,000 people have already left the nation's top cyber agency this year through voluntary buyouts and other workforce cuts. Those cuts could create dangerous weaknesses in the nation's cyber defenses, the lawmakers argue in a letter exclusively shared with Axios. Zoom in: Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) sent a letter today to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard demanding more clarity on who is leading the response against two major China-backed cyberattacks uncovered during the Biden administration. Democratic Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi, Kathy Castor, Ro Khanna, Haley Stevens, Shontel Brown and Jill Tokuda joined Torres as signatories. The lawmakers are also requesting Noem and Gabbard provide an update on any ongoing investigations into both the Volt Typhoon attacks on U.S. critical infrastructure and the Salt Typhoon campaign to surveil high-profile individuals' cell phones. The group is also asking for an update on how proposed budget cuts and the recent workforce reductions at CISA will impact those investigations. What they're saying: "This is not a partisan issue. It is a matter of grave consequence for the security of America both at home and abroad," the lawmakers write. "We owe it to the American people to protect them from the specter of a cyber 9/11 at the hands of our most formidable foreign adversary." Threat level: For years, top American officials have been warning about increasing cyber threats from China. China-backed Volt Typhoon has been prepositioning in critical infrastructure — such as water utilities, power plants and railways — for at least five years, according to congressional testimony. Salt Typhoon, another Chinese government-backed group, was caught hacking into several high-profile politicians' phones last year, including President Trump's. "Somewhere, Xi Jinping is smiling at America's insistence on degrading its own cyber capabilities," the lawmakers write.
Business Wire
2 hours ago
- Business Wire
Valero Energy Corporation to Announce Second Quarter 2025 Earnings Results on July 24, 2025
SAN ANTONIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE: VLO) announced today that it will host a conference call on July 24, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. ET to discuss second quarter 2025 results, which will be released earlier that day, and provide an update on company operations. Persons interested in listening to the conference call may join the webcast on Valero's Investor Relations website at About Valero Valero Energy Corporation, through its subsidiaries (collectively, Valero), is a multinational manufacturer and marketer of petroleum-based and low-carbon liquid transportation fuels and petrochemical products, and sells its products primarily in the United States (U.S.), Canada, the United Kingdom (U.K.), Ireland, and Latin America. Valero owns 15 petroleum refineries located in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. with a combined throughput capacity of approximately 3.2 million barrels per day. Valero is a joint venture member in Diamond Green Diesel Holdings LLC, which produces low-carbon fuels including renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), with a production capacity of approximately 1.2 billion gallons per year in the U.S. Gulf Coast region. See the annual report on Form 10-K for more information on SAF. Valero also owns 12 ethanol plants located in the U.S. Mid-Continent region with a combined production capacity of approximately 1.7 billion gallons per year. Valero manages its operations through its Refining, Renewable Diesel, and Ethanol segments. Please visit for more information.
