By Rebecca Gaunt

Kennesaw City Council will vote on funding an increase of $6.5 million for the new public safety facility at the Dec. 2 council meeting.

The updated cost is projected to be $15.2 million, up from $8.7 million.

According to Jeff Drobney, the city manager, the original figure was based on 2017-2019 building costs.

“Here we are 5-6 years later. Obviously, we’re trying to design a building that can grow with the police force and allow for expansion,” Drobney said.

The city has been eyeing the need for a new facility since 2017. The project was approved by voters as part of the 2022 SPLOST referendum with the $8.7 million dollar allocation. 

It is being built on Moon Station Road next to the recently expanded public works building.

Drobney proposed what he called a reasonable solution.

“As you know, we’ve been collecting SPLOST proceeds over the last 33 months. We were projected to collect approximately $441,458 per month,” he said.

That projection would have equaled a total of $31.7 million over six years. However, the city has already hit the $25 million mark at less than halfway through the SPLOST collection period.

“So at 33 months in, we are 79% of the way there. We still have 39 months to go,” Drobney continued.

On average, the city has been collecting $328,902 over the monthly projection. Kennesaw currently has over $10 million set aside in excess collections, which Drobney recommended putting toward the safety facility.

He said it was too soon to call it an overage only about halfway through the collection period. However, in the unlikely worst-case scenario that the remaining SPLOST period failed to provide the necessary funds, the Sardis Street extension and improvement project would have its funding delayed.

Drobney explained that the Sardis Street project is not only much further down the pipeline, but staff members are exploring other funding options for it anyway.

“The likelihood of that happening is a ‘sun not coming up’ type of a thing, but I always have to project the worst-case scenario,” Drobney said.

The Council is also set to approve a $154,801 contract with S.H. Creel Contracting to improve the entrance to City Hall. The project includes revamping the disabled parking lot, removing all necessary trees, replacing sidewalks, and improving landscaping.

Rebecca Gaunt earned a degree in journalism from the University of Georgia and a master’s degree in education from Oglethorpe University. After teaching elementary school for several years, she returned to writing. She lives in Marietta with her husband, son, two cats, and a dog. In her spare time, she loves to read, binge Netflix and travel.