McKinney police officers would start patrolling the North Texas Tollway Authority roads that run through the city under a two-year contract the City Council takes up Tuesday, Nov. 17.
The Texas Department of Public Safety used to handle law enforcement on every road the NTTA owns, but it "elected not to continue these services going forward," according to the police department's staff report on the interlocal agreement. The tollway authority is now signing agreements with each city along its system to fill the gap.
Under the McKinney deal, the NTTA would pay the city up to $545,318 a year for police coverage on the stretches of toll road inside McKinney's jurisdiction, with a two-year ceiling of $1,090,363. The contract would take effect as soon as it is signed. Police Chief Joe Ellenburg is listed as the contact, and staff recommend approval.
The report does not say how many officers would be assigned or how shifts would be staffed.
Training grounds and a future fire station
The same agenda carries the next step on a shared driver training site for police and fire at Redbud Boulevard and Bloomdale Road. Staff recommend Crossland Construction as construction manager at risk, at a preconstruction fee of $10,000 plus a 2.35% construction fee for the training project.
That project, estimated at about $13 million, includes a large paved driving course, classrooms with testing room for 60 people, equipment storage bays, an observation structure and space for Animal Control, according to the public works report. Crossland was picked from seven firms that applied in September.
The contract also covers future Fire Station No. 12 on the same site, a planned 16,000-square-foot station with three double-stacked drive-through bays and an estimated $15 million budget. Only the training project is in the current capital plan, so Crossland would be cleared to start on that alone. The station is still in master planning, with no design or construction dates set.
