Norwich ― Voters will be asked at the Nov. 7 election whether the city should build a $44.75 million new police station at a site to be determined.

The City Council onTuesday approved an ordinance to bond up to $44.75 million for the new police station and passed a second resolution to send the measure to the voters in a referendum during the Nov. 7 municipal election. Most speakers favored the project during an Aug. 21 public hearing. The vote was delayed that night to Tuesday so the wording could be changed to allow state or federal grant money to be used to reduce local taxpayers’ share of the cost.

Mayor Peter Nystrom announced he was supporting the new police station ordinance, saying he hopes it would help the city department with recruitment and retention of police officers. Aldermen voted unanimously to approve the ordinance without further comment.

The ordinance describes a police headquarters facility that would include a community room, a community room, training classrooms, emergency operations center, main desk, dispatch center, areas for the public, prisoner processing, detention and transport, armory, parking and electric vehicle charging stations.

The price would also include new equipment and furnishings, property acquisition, demolition and environmental remediation.

No site has been identified yet for the proposed new station. Police Chief Patrick Daley said city and police officials will review top-rated sites from previous studies, especially sites owned by the city to reduce property acquisition costs.

Voters in 2012 rejected a $33 million plan to convert the former Sears building downtown into a police station. Three years later, city leaders rejected bids from private developers for a leased police headquarters.

Now that the item has been placed on the official referendum ballot, city officials are limited on how they can discuss the issue. City officials are restricted from using city resources to advocate either for or against the issue.

Daley said he would be willing to speak with city or civic group to explain the proposal and answer questions.

The police station proposal is one of two referendum bond questions on the Nov. 7 agenda. The City Council voted earlier this summer to send a $6 million bond request to voters for road and bridge construction and related drainage work on streets throughout the city. Voters have approved similar road bonds five times since 2009, most recently for $5 million in 2019.

c.bessette@theday.com