Public Safety Commission Votes to Add $50,000 Public Safety Study to Budget Request

The public safety commission has voted to add a $50,000 public safety study to its 2011-2012 budget request.

The vote Monday on the public safety study came after a brief discussion that at times was critical of the Town Council.

“In the long run,” said Michael Butterworth, “it (a public safety study) saves money, but nobody wants to spend the money up front.” If the public safety commission can’t have the town council vote to follow the recommendations in the study, Butterworth said, “I can’t see wasting the town’s money.”

Russell Wehner took a different point of view. “I think we can’t do the right thing because we think it won’t be done in the future,” he said. “We need to have a study, to have a plan in place.” Adding that he wasn’t a person who wanted to “live on past practice,” he said he had to be optimistic. “I think there was a time when we thought we’d never see a police station,” he said, “but lo and behold, here it is.”

Gary Allyn said that is the group was going to criticize the council, it should instead turn its attention back to itself. “This is part of the charter that we have a direct impact on. If we’re going to throw stones, we best not live in a glass house,” he said. The group could have a knee-jerk reaction to the proposal, “or we can have somebody come in and take an objective look.”

“The $50,000 is a nominal fee,” he said, based on other expenditures the group was considering.

Mayor Joe Jaskiewicz, asked for his opinion, said that if you have a plan, you have something to work with. “If you have a plan, there’s the potential for grants,” he said. “I think it you do a study, and you have a plan, and if something comes along, you can say we have a plan.”

Town Councilor Candy Buebendorf, liaison to the commission, suggested putting it in the 2011-2012 budget, and the group agreed and voted in favor, agreeing also to create a committee to monitor and guide the idea.