Norwich - Several poster boards depicting the proposed new $33.4 million downtown police station lined the Kelly Middle School conference room Thursday as about 30 residents gathered for the fifth of six public information meetings on the project prior to Monday's City Council public hearing.

The council is expected to vote Monday on whether to place the issue on the Nov. 6 election ballot for a referendum.

The 57,000-square-foot station would be located at the junction of Main and Cliff streets, using the existing three-story former Sears building at 2-6 Cliff St. and several surrounding parking lots and two short side streets.

Police Chief Louis Fusaro said the project, while not being the answer to the depressed downtown economy, would bring a "significant change to the atmosphere downtown."

Questions Thursday centered on the tax burden the project would pose, especially on downtown residents who already pay higher tax rates for paid fire service.

Fusaro rejected arguments that the proposed facility is "a palace" and insisted the project includes the needs of the department for the next 50 years to avoid yet another station move in the future.

Architect Brian Humes of Jacunski Humes Architects LLC, which designed the proposed station, told residents the project would be a 50-plus-year solution to the police department's needs. Humes said renovating the Sears building saves money because the three-story, 40,000-square-foot building is solid. The new 17,000 square feet of space would be built to the rear of the main building and would house the prisoner processing and detention area and an indoor firing range.

A three-story parking garage would be built on the city-owned 70-space parking lot adjacent to the Sears building on Cliff Street. The 75 spaces on the ground floor would be reserved for public parking.

City Comptroller Joseph Ruffo had estimated the project to cost $48 in additional property taxes in the first year on a house assessed at $100,000. By the fifth year, the cost would be $116. The cost would decrease in later years.

Ruffo said Thursday the city is considering alternative financing methods to spread out the costs more evenly over 30 years, instead of the traditional 20-year bonding.

More information about alternative funding and the tax burden will be discussed at Monday's City Council meeting. "We're working on that," City Manager Alan Bergren said of the tax numbers requested.

Resident Sheila Foster said she liked the police station plan but not the cost. She bought her house in 2007, just before the housing bubble burst, and she can't refinance because the house has dropped $60,000 in value.

"I'm struggling, I'm sorry," she told city officials. "I haven't had a cost of living (increase) in three years."

Others agreed and said this cost would come on the heels of a tax increase and utility rate increases this year. But resident Ira Misenheimer debated with some residents, saying the city has to invest in itself to avoid even higher costs in the future.

c.bessette@theday.com

Public meetings on proposed police station

• 10 a.m. Saturday: Public information session, Knights of Columbus, 47 S. Second Ave., Taftville.

• 7:30 p.m. Monday: City Council public hearing and vote on ordinance to be placed on Nov. 6 referendum ballot, City Hall.