Ledyard — The Town Council voted unanimously Wednesday night to combine the town-owned properties at 737 and 741 Colonel Ledyard Highway for construction of new police facility.

The vote came after a public hearing regarding a 0.08-acre parcel at 737 Colonel Ledyard Highway that the council voted March 25 to purchase from Holdridge Farm Nursery for $20,000.

Council memberKevin Dombrowski said at the time that the land would help “straighten out the property boundary line” for building the town’s new $6.75 million police station, which was approved by voters in May 2013.

No one spoke against the purchase Wednesday.

Combining the properties, Mayor John Rodolico said before the Wednesday meeting, would allow the town to “create a municipal government campus.” The property is next to Town Hall, where the old firehouse and ambulance buildings were before they were razed last year.

“This way we can invest money into the property as a whole,” he said, citing plans to fix the parking lot and add sidewalks and landscaping.

Voters approved the proposed two-story, 12,000-square-foot station, 413-374. It will replacethe existing “cramped” and decaying7,000-square foot police station on Lorenz Industrial Parkway, which Rodolico said in May 2013 would need more than $250,000 to reach “some level of adequacy.”

In the months that followed the initial $6.75 million project proposal, which Jacunski Humes Architects outlined, six architectural firms — including Jacunski Humes — sent in bids to be lead designer for the project.

Ultimately, the town opted to stick with Jacunski Humes architect Brian Humes, who initially had hoped to break ground for the project in April 2014 and have it finished a year later. But, Rodolico explained, the project hit a snag when the group dug test pits and realized the town was losing thousands of gallons of water a month in part because of a “convoluted” water system.

The town has since redone the system, adding a curtain drain and pipelines with more direct routes from the road to the buildings they’re supplying. The system will be monitored throughout this year’s rainy season, but Rodolico doesn’t anticipate any more setbacks.

“Now, we’re preparing to go out to bid for a general contractor for the construction,” Rodolico said.

He said the project, with construction now set to begin in June, still should cost about $6.75 million.

“Because of the delay, there’s been an escalation in construction costs,” Rodolico said. “But, the (municipal building) committee is still confident they can bring the project in at about the same cost.”

He said $500,000 in contingencies included in the original plan, as well as competition among contractors seeking the bid, will help ensure that.

l.boyle@theday.com

Twitter:@LindsayABoyle