SKANEATELES - With plans to build a new police station put on hold, the Skaneateles Village Board of Trustees unanimously voted on Monday to allocate $7,500 in building maintenance funds to renovate the village police department's current building.

Mayor Bob Green said that while the current economic situation forced the village to delay the project for at least a year, he was reluctant to spend money to renovate the building.

“My reservations on putting money into that building is that we may not use it, but we may not have any other options right now since we have shelved the police station project,” Green said. “There's no insulation and broken windows at the current building.”

By installing installation into the attic and replacing broken windows, Police Chief Lloyd Perkins said he believed it would be possible to save money on heating and electricity while improving the work environment.

The remaining renovations will set up a separate interview room, move the locker room and make a secure evidence room.

The new interview room will allow officers to keep victims and suspects separate from each other while interviews are conducted, Perkins said. The room will also provide another security advantage for officers.

“When there is one officer on duty, we wanted to make sure we kept the room in an area where they can keep an eye on the suspects while interviewing the victims for security reasons,” Perkins said.

In order to come up with the extra space for the interview room and evidence room, the department will be using the space that was previously occupied by SAVES.

The original cost of renovations came in at $9,500, not including new lockers for the officers, but Perkins said he could cut out $3,000 in new carpeting.

In order to save money on 12 new lockers that will cost $425 each, Trustee Marc Angelillo suggested that the village look into building its own lockers, something that the Skaneateles High School boys ice hockey team did last year to cut costs.

With a tough economic environment and a lack of flexibility in the village's budget, Trustee Sue Jones said the department will have to look at every opportunity to cut costs in order to complete all of the renovations.

“You have to make the best of this money, that's what you got to work with so use it,” Jones said.

Staff writer Nate Robson can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 248 or nathan.robson@lee.net