Old Saybrook - The town should postpone construction of a new police station on Main Street until the economy improves, First Selectman Michael Pace suggested at Tuesday's Board of Finance meeting.

"We don't have to rush it," Pace said after the meeting. "I think it's prudent at this point not to go into debt."

Pace told the finance board that residents already worried about paying their bills and holding onto their jobs may be skittish about paying the $240,000 or $250,000 a year in debt service for a $5.5 million station, the most conservative of several estimates.

Construction of a $5.5 million, 16,000-square-foot station would raise the tax rate by two-tenths of a mill each year for the next 20 years, said Pace. And that's for "bricks and mortars" alone, he said. Soft costs, such as architecture fees and furniture, would be another $1.5 million or so, Pace said.

The police department moved last year from its Main Street building to leased space at 6 Custom Drive after the Main Street station was damaged in the March 2010 flood.

Given that the department currently pays $36,000 in rent a year, Pace said, continuing to pay rent actually may be the more affordable option for now.

"We would be better off staying there, paying the rent," Pace said. "We're not even close to paying this kind of debt service until the economy gets better."

If the town decides it cannot afford a new station at this time, Pace recommended that the town consider moving forward with an overdue replacement of windows at the Kathleen E. Goodwin School at a fraction of the cost of building a new station - about $1.2 million, according to Pace's estimate.

"My suggestion to the school department is that, in that area, you canopy it with something like an atrium, a glass atrium, so that it becomes interior space," Pace said. "We can pay for that $1.2 million in a four-year period and not affect $1 in the operating budget or mill rate."

A police station building committee is still working on developing plans for a new station. Headed by Dan Moran, this is the second reincarnation of the committee; Pace disbanded the first committee, led by Police Commission Vice Chairman Timothy Conklin, after initial estimates for a new station came in at double the price Pace expected.

Pace, who is not running for re-election, said after the meeting that he didn't know when the new committee would be ready to present a formal plan. When it does, either he or the new administration will determine what the town can afford, he said.

"All I'm doing is giving the Board of Finance some options and some input from me before I exit," Pace said.

j.cho@theday.com