The city of Mesa is eyeing a 9.1-acre parcel at the southwest corner of Southern Avenue and Longmore Street for a new police substation.

Two nearby business owners are hoping the planned police hub will stabilize the immediate marketplace, while two city councilmembers are approaching the same issue, but in two different ways.

City officials are in closed-door negotiations with the private landowner, but Councilman Alex Finter says his instincts are telling him that the proposed location may not be Mesa taxpayers’ best chance to get the most bang for their buck.

"I am going to encourage staff to get the best price for the taxpayers on this site," he said in a Jan. 13 phone interview of the proposed site for the police substation. "The cost for this site has really escalated ... that may be the best site, but my gut says it is not the best price."

A 2008 public safety bond measure sent to Mesa voters approved, amongst other things, $15 million for the construction of a new police substation, Councilman Finter explained.

According to Councilman Finter the price tag for the proposed construction — including acquisition, demolition and construction — tops $17 million for the proposed location.

"Let’s keep looking for the best buy," he said noting the search for a site began in 2007, at the height of the housing market. "Now we have hit where the bubble has popped ... I am hoping that staff will see that there is a different mindset of what we are trying to acquire."

Councilman Finter says he wants to make sure every option is explored.

"Let’s keep everything open," he said noting the original decision to pursue the proposed site was made prior to the recent announcement that Powell Junior High School is closing. "They are talking about making it into a community center. That may not be a workable site, but it hasn’t even been on the table."

Mesa Councilman Dennis Kavanaugh says the proposed site is ideal because the majority of high-priority calls originate in the Dobson Patrol District.

"This site meets all the criteria the city council gave to the city department heads," he explained in a Jan. 13 phone interview. "The Dobson district is a population-intense district. We needed a new substation more centrally located."

Councilman Finter agrees with that assessment, but says that argument could be made for any region of the western part of the city.

"They presented that argument, but being a retired fire captain, the reality of this is the northern half of the area is a high area of calls," he said. "In fact some of the most significant calls are all up and down Alma School Road."

The proposed site is about a quarter-mile from Southern Avenue and Alma School Road.

Councilman Finter says the calls for service reasoning for the site choice a source of frustration.

"My thing is you can make that convincing argument in several segments of the northern region of that district," he said of Kavanaugh’s district. "I am hyper sensitive to how much we spend and what we are trying to do."

Councilman Finter says he just wants the most cost-effective choice to be made.

"All I am asking is that we put it on the table," he said of other locations such as the now to be closed Powell Junior High School site. "I am hoping some good things are happening right now behind closed doors."

According to Councilman Kavanaugh, those meetings have yet to occur.

"As a council we have not met in executive session to review the site," he explained. "We will be having an executive session on the results of the community input sometime this month," he said of a recent public gathering at the Fiesta Mall.

In law enforcement, where the most calls for service are located is where you want easy access to and from those callouts, Councilman Kavanaugh says.

"We move things around where we think criminal activity is occurring," he said. "This really will help the department being visible for our calls to service are located."

In addition to its added benefits on the public-safety side, Councilman Kavanaugh says the creation of a public facility in any area has other added benefits.

"This is an opportunity from its perspective on how you can build a major facility using those guidelines," he said of building the site with environmental principles. "That can play a major role in the stabilizing of an area."

Two business owners in the immediate area are betting on it.

Jim Willinger, owner of Wide World of Maps & More, 1444 W. Southern Ave., says he is looking forward to the possibility of a police station nearby.

"With the abandoned buildings next to us it doesn’t help us at all," he said Jan. 13 at his company’s Mesa location of the soon-to-be defunct nearby strip mall. "It is a good thing."

But when asked if he thought the area was a hot-bed for police and fire department activity, he replied, "it’s really not that bad."

"Every now and then people tag the building," he recalled of a recent incident where graffiti was drawn on his property. "It will be a good thing."

Alice Parker, co-owner of D’printshop, 1111 S. Longmore St., agrees.

"I personally feel that the people who abandoned this area for the Riverview are seeing less foot traffic," she said Jan. 13 at her store.