A majority of city commissioners rejected the idea of creating an ad hoc committee to study issues surrounding a proposal to build a multimillion dollar police headquarters, instead vowing to tackle the divisive issue themselves.

“The group that needs to solve this once and for all is us,” Mayor Jeremy Farmer said. “And we need to do it as a team.”

Commissioners all agreed to work together, but were of different minds on the value of a citizens committee that could provide recommendations to City Hall. The ad hoc committee was recommended by Commissioner Stuart Boley. He and Commissioner Leslie Soden both expressed support for creating the committee. Farmer and Commissioners Mike Amyx and Matthew Herbert all expressed concerns about the committee. Boley ultimately withdrew the idea, sparing commissioners from taking a vote on the issue.

There had been concern that an ad hoc committee would delay the process of moving forward on a police headquarters project. Boley had suggested giving the group until mid-November to deliver recommendations to the City Commission. That is well past the commission’s August deadline for creating a 2016 budget.

Commissioners heard more than an hour’s worth of public comment on the issue Tuesday night, with many police headquarters supporters speaking strongly against the formation of a citizens committee. The chairman of the Lawrence Police Officers Association said the group was concerned about enlisting a group of citizens with no police experience to study the issue and said the group was worried the committee was being formed to “push a political agenda.”

Members of the citizens group that organized a Vote Yes campaign for a previous police headquarters proposal said it would be irresponsible for the City Commission to form the committee.

“You can change the tradition of kicking the can down the road,” said Lawrence resident John Ross. “With all due respect, that is what I hear from this proposal. It has been kicked down the road enough.”

Commissioners are trying to figure out how to proceed with a police headquarters proposal — its most recent cost estimate checks in at $26 million — after voters rejected a sales tax proposal to pay for the facility in November. Some residents said that vote was a good indication that City Hall could benefit from more community thinking on the project.

“This proposal doesn’t kick the can down the road,” said Lawrence resident Joe Casad. “The voters kicked the can off the road in the last election. It is your job to figure out how to build some consensus on the issue.”

Commissioners agreed that more community consensus is needed on the project. There were also indications that commissioners will give serious consideration to plans that would build a new police facility without increasing either sales or property taxes. That would likely mean reductions in spending in several other areas of the city budget.

“I intend to fit this within the budget because it is a priority,” Herbert said. “If other things have to fall off the end of the table, then so be it.”

Amyx said he also is interested in fitting a police headquarters project in the city’s existing budget.

“We have fund balances,” Amyx said. “There are ways to do this, I bet.”

Boley said he was happy to work with the commission on finding a solution. He said he wasn’t trying to delay the project by seeking the help of the committee.

“The facilities we have now are inadequate,” Boley said. “We know that. We have to figure out how to solve it. But we have to achieve a solution that can generally be accepted by the community.”

Soden said she also was looking forward to working on the police headquarters issue, but said she thinks the community wants a broader look at the city’s overall plan, not just for police but for all public safety agencies. She said she made that the primary issue in her City Commission campaign last spring. She noted she was the top vote winner in the campaign.

“People are choosing to see this committee as a negative,” Soden said. “I see it as a positive step in trying to create some community consensus.”