DECATUR-The Decatur Police Department took another step toward a new headquarters Monday after the city council voted to hire a company to study the criteria needed for a new facility.

Increasing space for the department, which has grown in recent years, has been one of the council's most persistent concerns, with a number of attempts at organizing studies to determine criteria for a new facility having been proposed.

The city council voted 6-1 to give Peoria-based architectural company PSA Dewberry $40,000 for the seven-week study, which would evaluate the structural needs of the police department.

The company will explore construction options that include creating an all-new facility, which would be adjacent to the existing police headquarters, or adding onto the existing facility and renovating it, according to a letter from the company to the city manager's office.

Councilman Dan Caulkins voted against the measure, citing his concern with the lack of a bidding process.

"I think it's bad policy that we approved a $40,000 contract without bidding," Caulkins said. "I just feel as a matter of policy that we should have gotten competitive bids."

In other business, members of the Decatur Fire Department and city employee unions voiced their grievances to the council in regards to the legal fees the city has incurred in fighting them in court.

The contract for the fire union, which would increase the amount union members would pay for health insurance, is being argued in court. In an internal memo the city provided to the Herald & Review, interim City Manager John A. Smith blamed the $156,000 in court fees the city has spent since February 2007 on the intractability of the unions.

The memo informed city council members of a Freedom of Information Act request on the part of the city employees union, which requested the city disclose its legal expenditures.

Jerd Morstatter, president of the of the American Federation of Statem County, and Municipal Employees Local 268. representing employees of the city of Decatur, spoke directly against Smith in his comments to the council.

"The only reason that the city manager ever gave the facts on how much (legal counsel) was being paid is because the union got these figures in a Freedom of Information Act request," Morstatter said. "The city manager treats the council with disrespect, as if you were an inconvenience to him."

Smith said he had no part in the original contract negotiations, having taken his interim position afterward.

Kenneth Lowe can be reached at klowe@herald-review.com or 421-7985.