GORHAM – Gorham voters this fall will decide whether to back a $4.99 million makeover of the town’s Public Safety Building at 270 Main St., in the latest quest to modernize an antiquated facility.

Under the plan, police would move into a new building and the present facility would be renovated for the fire department.

“I think we’ve got a really great project and I hope it passes,” said Shonn Moulton, Town Council vice chairman.

On Tuesday, the council 6-0 (Matthew Robinson absent) approved sending the project to Gorham voters in a referendum on Tuesday, Nov. 4.

“If the voters approve the project, construction will start in the spring of 2015 and the project will have to go through Planning Board approval,” Town Manager David Cole said on Wednesday.

Town Councilor Ben Hartwell pointed out in Tuesday’s meeting that added interest of $1,726,000 through 20 years would boost total cost of the project to $6.7 million.

“It’s a burden we’re putting on people in the future,” Hartwell said.

Cole said the project would initially raise the tax rate 30 cents per $1,000 of valuation for property owners, but would then start dropping.

Last year, Gorham voters in a referendum rejected a $6.3 million proposal to build a new public safety complex at the site of the former Little Falls School.

This new proposal would keep police and fire departments headquartered at its present site in Gorham Village.

“This is a much better plan,” Town Councilor Suzanne Phillips said in a comparison to the one voters rejected.

No one from the public commented on the proposal in Tuesday’s meeting. A public informational hearing on the public safety construction plans is set for Tuesday, Sept. 2.

With police and fire departments remaining at the same location under the proposal, Phillips raised the possibility in the future of appointing a public safety head, combining the police and fire chief positions.

The idea surprised Town Council Chairman Michael Phinney, who on Wednesday doubted he’d support combining chiefs.

“We haven’t talked about it,” Phinney said.

Phinney likes having the fire and police departments in buildings side by side that allows consolidating resources.

“I can’t see sharing chiefs,” he said.

The former Gorham Public Safety Committee last year reported a multitude of deficiencies in the Public Safety Building, which was constructed in 1974. Problems included lack of separate facilities for men and women and a shortage of overall space.

“It hampers their ability to do their jobs,” architect Andrew Hyland of Port City Architecture said on Tuesday.

Hyland’s plan calls for moving police out of the existing facility and into a new, 10,000-square-foot police station to be built in front of the existing Public Safety Building, which would be overhauled for fire department use.

The police station would be a single-story building with a brick exterior. Police amenities would include parking with a fenced impound area for vehicles and a sally port for suspect bookings. It will not have a cellblock. A barn will be built for police storage.

Hyland called the proposed new building efficient, attractive and durable. The entrance will be from Chick Drive.

“It should carry you well into the future for police needs,” Hyland said.

The renovation for the fire department includes a new emergency operation center for both departments. Two large bays would be added to the rear of the building for additional housing for fire trucks with ladders.

An elevator would be installed in the fire department and other improvements include individual bunkrooms on the second floor and upgrades to make the building comply with federal disability requirements.

The police and fire department buildings will be separated by a courtyard.

In other Town Council news, Cole has announced that nomination papers are available on Friday, Aug. 8, for elected town positions in the municipal election on Tuesday, Nov. 4.

Expiring Town Council seats are those of Phinney and Phillips and School Committee terms expiring are those of Dennis Libby, Kathy Garrard and Sara Nelson. All seats are three-year terms.

Nomination papers are available in the office of Town Clerk Jennifer Elliott and papers must be filed by Monday, Sept. 22.