After years of debate, Carlsbad may soon part with construction money for a proposed police and firefighter training facility.

In a 4-1 vote Tuesday, with Councilman Mark Packard opposed, the City Council agreed to seek bids for training center complex, which is proposed to go on a 4-acre site near the city's police headquarters on Orion Way.

"Is this the last time that we're going to talk about this?" asked Mayor Bud Lewis moments after the vote.

Special projects director Skip Hammann, who earlier in the night gave a presentation covering the council's history with the project, responded that this might be the second-to-the-last time.

"We'll come back to council one more time to award the contract," he said, adding that could happen in February.

Plans call for the facility to include a police shooting range and a general training area with a two-story "residence" and a four-story "commercial building." The buildings would have movable interior walls to allow for different training scenarios, Hammann said. Emergency services workers also would be able to conduct mock vehicle extrications and trench rescues.

According to the latest estimates, the project will cost $21 million. That's about $3 million less than what the city already has set aside for the job, Hammann said. The new lower price tag in part reflects the national downturn in the construction industry, which has made companies eager for work, he said.

Carlsbad also benefits from its status as a charter city, he added. Under state law, charter cities can exempt themselves from some state regulations, including a requirement that they pay what are termed "prevailing wages" or union-scale wages.

Council members have been divided for years over how to proceed with the training center project. There's been debate over whether the city should operate the complex on its own or whether it should pursue a joint ownership arrangement with neighboring communities.

Packard said Tuesday that he doesn't believe the project is the best use of taxpayers' dollars, saying Carlsbad may end up subsidizing other cities' emergency training. Carlsbad can charge other departments to use its proposed facility, but probably won't ever recoup the full cost of running the place, he said.

He and Councilman Matt Hall have been strong supporters of a jointly run facility, and Hall said he agreed with the points that Packard was making Tuesday night. However, he voted with the council majority and said afterward that it was time to get the project started.

During the meeting, the mayor said he thought the project should have begun a year or two ago.

"We've gone over this time and time again," he said, referring to the debate over joint ownership of the facility.

Hammann said that if the bids come in as hoped, the city plans to start construction midway through 2010 and open the facility by early 2012.

Call staff writer Barbara Henry at 760-901-4072.