The Village of Trempealeau is planning ahead to ensure our facilities can continue to support a growing community. The most urgent need is the outdated and undersized Police Station, but the study also reviewed Village Hall and the Public Works site so the Village can approach future improvements as a coordinated plan.
Evaluating our facilities now allows the Village to identify space needs early, avoid costly reactive projects, and prepare for grant opportunities. It also helps improve efficiency, safety, and service levels across departments.
This study gives the Village a clear, data driven foundation for making responsible long term decisions that support staff and protect taxpayers.
The Facility Space Needs Study provided a clear picture of how well our municipal buildings serve the community today and what will be required in the future. Several important themes emerged.
1. The Police Department has outgrown its current space
This was the most significant finding and the main reason the study was initiated. The Police Department does not have the space required for modern policing practices. There is not enough room for offices, interviews, evidence storage, secure processing, or private work areas. The garage is undersized and cannot support proper vehicle storage or impound needs. The downtown location has no possibility for meaningful expansion and the site layout creates challenges for privacy, security, and staff workflow.
2. A new Police Station site would meet long term needs
The Village-owned property at 4th Street and College Avenue was identified as the most suitable site for a future Police Station. It provides a large enough footprint for a modern building, secure access, ample parking, indoor vehicle bays, and dedicated space for evidence handling and investigations. The site also has room to grow as future staffing or service demands increase.
3. Village Hall functions well but cannot support Police expansion
Village Hall is generally well organized and provides good use of space for administration, the museum, the board room, and community functions. The building is in good condition and continues to serve its purpose effectively. However, the parcel is too small for expansion. Parking is limited and the site layout does not allow for the type of secure, specialized space that the Police Department requires. The study confirmed that Village Hall should continue to serve administrative and community needs, but it cannot support a long term public safety function.
4. Public Works and the Electric Utility need strategic improvements
The Public Works Shop is in good condition and sized appropriately for current operations. The Electric Utility addition functions well but lacks a dedicated office and restroom. Staff also noted the need for additional heated and cold storage for vehicles, equipment, and materials. The study showed that the site has sufficient room for future storage buildings and layout improvements. While not urgent, these additions would support better daily efficiency and equipment protection.
The study confirms that the Police Department is the most urgent facility need. Two options were evaluated.
Option 1: Build a New Police Station at College Street and 4th Street
Estimated Cost: 4,054,978 dollars
A new stand alone facility on Village owned land would provide the space, privacy, and secure layout required for modern policing. The project cost includes design work, demolition of existing sheds, site preparation, IT and security systems, furnishings, and other startup costs.
Key Points
• Creates a purpose built facility that meets current and future needs
• Provides adequate evidence, processing, garage, and office space
• Allows for future expansion
• Higher upfront cost but delivers a complete long term solution
Option 2: Remodel and Expand the Existing Police Area at Village Hall
Estimated Cost: 1,764,115 dollars
This option renovates the existing police space and adds a small expansion. It provides some improvements but does not fully address long term space needs. The Board Room would need to share space with the Community Room.
Key Points
• Lower initial cost
• Improves some functions but does not solve major deficiencies
• No secure public entry, no drive through garage, and limited room for growth
• Creates scheduling conflicts by merging the Board Room and Community Room
• Still a significant cost while delivering a short and medium term fix, not a long term solution
The Village is planning these projects carefully to limit the impact on taxpayers. Because a modern Police Station is expensive, the project will not move forward unless at least 80 percent of the cost is covered through grants. The goal is to secure an 80 percent federal grant and use state grants for the remaining match.
One important consideration is the upfront design work required to apply for federal grants. Projects must be shovel ready, which means completing full architectural plans at an estimated cost of about 260,000 dollars. This cost is included in the project estimate but cannot be reimbursed by federal grants, so the Village would need to pay it before applying.
This is a key decision for the Village Board. Preparing designs would position the community for major funding opportunities, but it requires committing local dollars before any grant is awarded. Planning ahead allows the Village to wait for the right grant opportunity and pursue the project only when it is financially responsible to do so.
The total cost estimate includes more than the building itself. It also covers architectural and engineering design, demolition of the existing structures on the site, IT and security infrastructure, furnishings, and other required components needed to make the facility fully operational.
That being said construction costs have increased significantly since COVID. New public safety buildings in Wisconsin commonly cost more than 400 dollars per square foot. At first glance that might create the impression that the Village is planning something oversized. That is not the case, which is why the Village commissioned a professional space needs study.
The study evaluated every function of the Police Department and determined the amount of space required for modern policing, evidence handling, investigations, secure processing, vehicle storage, and future staffing. Based on this analysis, the recommended new facility is approximately 8,200 square feet. This size is driven by documented operational needs, not by a desire for an overbuilt facility.
Anyone who has toured the current Police Department understands the lack of space. The facility is undersized, offers very limited privacy, has no secure processing area, and does not meet current best practices for evidence handling or officer safety. The space needs study outlines these deficiencies clearly and provides an objective basis for the recommended building size.
The goal is to provide a right sized, functional facility that supports effective public safety services for the next several decades.
The Public Safety Committee recently reviewed this question in detail and determined that maintaining four full time officers is appropriate and necessary for Trempealeau.
Maintaining continuous police coverage requires more staffing than many people realize. To keep even a single patrol car staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, a department typically needs about 4.5 full time equivalents to cover vacations, sick time, training, and other schedule demands. With less than four officers, the Village would not be able to provide true 24 hour coverage.
National benchmarks also support our current staffing level. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that small communities under 10,000 residents average about 2.1 officers per 1,000 residents, which is about one officer per 475 residents. Trempealeau’s population and its significant seasonal tourism match this standard.
Community input reinforces this priority. In the Village’s Comprehensive Plan survey, residents ranked maintaining a safe community as one of the highest priorities for local government. The expectation for prompt response times and visible law enforcement presence cannot be met with staffing levels below four officers.
For those who want more detail, the Administrator’s full recommendation to the Public Safety Committee outlines the operational and public safety reasons for maintaining four full time officers.
Crime in Trempealeau may not always be visible to the public. Most incidents never appear in the news, and unless someone regularly listens to the police scanner, it can be difficult to understand how busy our officers truly are. Our Police Department handles a wide range of calls, including fraud investigations, child abuse cases, domestic incidents, medical assists, drug activity, property crimes, and welfare checks. These calls require time, training, proper facilities, and thorough follow up.
The reality is that the world is not becoming safer, and small rural communities are not insulated from broader trends. Communities across the country are seeing increased risks related to:
• Social and political polarization
• Greater isolation and mental health challenges
• The spread of harder drugs into rural areas
• Child exploitation and domestic abuse
• Violence that can occur in schools, places of worship, and public spaces
Our region has experienced several serious incidents that illustrate these risks. The machete attack in Arcadia that injured more than 25 people is a stark example. Trempealeau itself recently had a stabbing incident in the downtown area. Earlier this year, suspects were roaming neighborhoods and breaking into vehicles. The department has also handled multiple serious child abuse cases in recent years.
None of this means Trempealeau is unsafe. It does mean that no community is immune from serious incidents or from the need to be prepared. Our officers must be equipped, trained, and supported with facilities that allow them to handle the full range of calls they receive.
The goal of the facility planning effort is to ensure our Police Department has the space and tools needed to respond effectively, protect residents, and maintain the safe community that our residents consistently say they value.
The Village understands this concern and takes it seriously. Trempealeau is a growing community, and long term projections show the population increasing to more than 3,000 residents over the next 25 years. As a community grows, the cost of maintaining services and providing essential public safety functions also increases. Residents consistently identify public safety as one of the most important services a local government provides.
The goal is for future growth to help spread these costs so that the impact on individual taxpayers is as small as possible. Unfortunately, state funding formulas do not always allow growing communities to benefit proportionately from the additional revenue that growth should generate. This creates challenges when planning for major capital projects.
Your elected officials live here and pay taxes here as well. The Village Board understands the financial pressures residents face and is committed to planning these projects responsibly. This is why the Village is pursuing significant state and federal grant funding. The intent is to cover the vast majority of project costs through outside funding sources so that the impact on local taxpayers is minimized.
The Village will not move forward with construction unless a responsible and sustainable funding plan is in place. The goal is to invest in public safety and community needs without placing an unreasonable burden on residents.
A referendum is not required for the Village to pursue grant funding or to move forward with a project that is funded through outside sources.
If the Village needs to cover a portion of the project with local dollars, that would be done through debt financing, which is allowed under Wisconsin’s levy limit laws. Debt payments are specifically exempt from levy limits. Because of that exemption, issuing debt for a capital project does not require a referendum.
A referendum is required only when a municipality wants to increase its operating property tax levy, similar to what was needed to keep the pool open. That is entirely different from borrowing for a capital project, which is permitted without voter approval.
The Village will still ensure that any financing approach is responsible, transparent, and structured to minimize long term taxpayer impact.
The Village Board will be discussing the results of the study and whether or not to move forward with either option at the Committee of the Whole Meeting scheduled for Thursday November 20th, at 7:00pm.
If you have questions or feedback, please contact us here.