The Southeast Side of Iowa City will soon be home to a new police substation aimed at reducing crime and engaging the community.

The Iowa City City Council voted unanimously on Monday night to approve signing a commercial property lease with Southgate Development Services LLC. to build the facility located in Pepperwood Mall near the Highway 6 and Broadway intersection.

Police hope to move in by Aug. 1.

Police Chief Sam Hargadine spoke to the council about the new substation and its logistics, saying it will include basic necessities such as phones and computer system, as well as office space.

“It’s essentially an extension of City Hall,” Hargadine said. The Iowa City Police Department is located in City Hall.

The new substation will work on regular hours and with limited staff resources.

A crime-prevention officer will be transferred to the new location to provide him better access to community members on that side of town.

“Our intent is to move a crime-prevention officer there,” Hargadine said, and there may be times when there are no volunteers staffing the facility. “There may be times when the door is locked.”

Mayor Matt Hayek addressed the limited staffing issue as “not ideal” but the substation project is “a step in the right direction.”

Hargadine has also said he wants the substation to serve as a resource, with a room for community and neighborhood associations to use.

Aside from Haradine, residents also spoke to councilors on Monday night.

Southeast Side community member Joely Brandon approached the podium to urge councilors to go ahead with the substation plans.

Brandon said that while recent crime has hurt the community’s reputation, there is still great potential.

“What I like about this idea is that it’s proactive,” she said. “There are a lot of really good families around there that have good kids.”

Other community members also expressed excitement about the addition.

“I see this as an opportunity for the Police Department to become partners in the community,” Southside resident Therese McKenzie said. “Our children and our neighbors can become more comfortable with police officers.”

Hargadine and city councilors referred to the new substation as an experiment. If it has a positive effect on crime rates in the area, it may be something that could be looked into for other areas of Iowa City, they said.

“I think this is another good first step in helping get more collaboration between the police and the neighborhoods,” Councilor Mike Wright said.

While most seemed optimistic about the new substation, resident Kenya Badgett said it is not really what the community needs.

She told the councilors she is concerned the new addition to the community may turn out to be the same as past failed projects.

“I think that we deserve more on the Southeast Side of Iowa City that would involve more collaboration and thinking outside of the box,” she said.

The two-year project will cost roughly $86,535, with around $81,000 of the total expenses going toward remodeling, furniture, and utilities in the first year. The money, Hargadine has said, would come from three sources: a Jag-Byrne grant, the Iowa City Housing Authority, and the police drug-seizure fund.