Genoa Township trustees will hear a presentation on the recommendations for the new township police station from members of the Citizen Police Advisory Committee at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 5 at the township hall, 5111 S. Old 3C Highway, Westerville.

According to Genoa Township Police Chief Steve Gammill, the committee will “layout specific options, locations, financing methods and designs” for the new police station. He said the trustees asked the committee to research the best possible options and to present them to the board.

“The 14-member committee is composed of a variety of residents and backgrounds with a wide range of experiences,” he said.

Gammill said the committee has spent months doing research to come up with the best possible options and recommendations for the board of trustees. He said the current police station is 42 years old and out of date with the American Disabilities Act.

He said the current station was built around what was originally a picnic shelter. It lacks storage, proper workspace for officers and has only one small suspect interrogation room, Gammill added.

“If we have multiple suspects or multiple witnesses, we have nowhere to put them,” he said in an NBC4 interview he included in an email to residents. “It’s not good working conditions for officers.”

Gammill said there have been times that male officers have gone to change out of uniform after a shift but had to wait because a female officer was changing in the only locker room for the station. Other issues with the old building include narrow corridors that two people can barely pass each other in, no insulation in the walls or ceiling, nor a female officer’s locker room or facility.

“You can’t renovate the building and bring it up to code,” he said. “It’s not economically feasible.”

For more information on the police station, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsylNr2Khv8&feature=youtu.be for a virtual video tour created by Genoa Township or to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-NOHnq0kxs for the full NBC4 interview and walk through with Gammill.

“I encourage all residents to attend the meeting to listen to the presentations and voice opinions either way on the topic,” he said in his email. “This is an important opportunity for everyone to be involved in the future of the township.”