(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)

Get ready for another big ask from Kamloops city hall.

The first city council meeting has a $150 million replacement eyed for the Kamloops RCMP station on the agenda, putting costs and a timeline to a long-awaited construction plan.

Next week, Kamloops city council will consider having staff prepare another request for taxpayers to borrow millions for a new facility, coming just months after getting approval to borrow $275 million for a new arts facility and an arena.

If all goes to plan, the five-storey station would move RCMP out of the 35-year-old Battle Street detachment by 2029. It would be built in what's currently a parking lot on the same property, and the old one would then be demolished to make way for a two-storey parkade, according to a staff report to council. Fleet parking would be forced to the street during construction.

City administration and RCMP initially saw two smaller concepts from consultants, but they were refused and had a third concept developed. The third, now being brought to council, is projected to be funded with $150.2 in debt, according to the report.

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That's more than triple the new Kelowna detachment which opened in 2017. That $48 million build, including $42 million in debt, is around 97,000 square-feet and housed 380 staff when it opened. It was expected to last at least 50 years.

The Kamloops project is bigger, at more than 120,000 square-feet, and currently hosts half the staff compared to Kelowna's when it opened eight years ago. The five-storey Kamloops detachment would be triple the size of the current one.

Despite the differences, the same Kelowna project would cost $100 million today, according to the Kamloops staff report. It adds that Kelowna is planning for an expansion within two years.

The construction budget is estimated at $148.2 million, including $28.5 million for construction risk or overages, according to the report. Another $1.8 million will be held in City reserves for "internal costs." There's a chance RCMP will share or reimburse some of those costs for "select amenities," according to the report.

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It's projected to satisfy RCMP needs for 30 years, while the other two concepts would have lasted seven and 15 years, respectively. Both would have favoured major renovations over a full replacement and the seven-year option would have seen it repurposed for a new city hall.

For both options, City administration and RCMP "felt they did not satisfy a long enough forecast" for the cost, according to the report. It's not clear what they would have cost nor whether council has seen those plans.

If approved on Jan. 14, the province would be asked to approve whether Kamloops will go to a referendum or Alternative Approval for the borrowing, which would have to take place within the next three months.

If the new facility isn't approved at the council level, Kamloops runs the risk of RCMP or higher levels of government making the decision for them, then holding the City accountable for the bill in the end, according to the report.

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