Board moves to ‘further discussion of potential police contract with City of Stanley’ at November 8 meeting

The offers made November 2 have been con sidered, and going forward the Village of Boyd will seek further discussion wioth the City of Stanley regarding a potential police contracts.

Meeting in regular session November 8 with three of four board members present, motion was made by Sarah McQuillan and seconded by Gwen Krizan to said effect. Clerk Sandi Isaa- cs took the roll call vote. Casey Dorn was not present at the November 8 regular meeting, all others voting 'yes.' The move as such does not commit Boyd to going with Stanley, but moves the process forward to that end. Among the concerns raised at Monday’s meeting was using the Boyd squad when in Boyd, or else putting “Stanley-Boyd Police” in place of “City of Stanley” on future squads, should a contract be

Appearing before the Boyd Committee of the Whole Monday November 2 were (from left) Sheriff Jim Kowalczyk; Deputy Andy Clark; Stanley Police Chief Lance Weiland; and Cad ­

ott Chief Louie Eslinger. Casey Dorn and Sarah McQuillan occupy seats at the table. Photo by Joseph Back.OFFERS MADE

FROM PAGE 1 reached with the city. Stanley Police Chief Lance Weiland made the case for mutual benefit November 2.

"And again, I view this as mutually beneficial. Otherwise it would make no sense for you guys to do it.” Thus did Stanley Police Chief Lance Weiland make his pitch Monday November 1 to the Boyd Committee of the Whole for a department merger or else provision of services "24/7/365," as the presentation hand out put it.

With Stanley currently having four full-time police officers on its force along with Chief Weiland (also full-time) and a part-time officer allocation of $26,210 in the Stanley city budget, combining the part-time allocation from Stanley with Boyd’s 2021 police allocation of $60,200 would total $86,410 between both municipalities, allowing for the creation of a full-time position and with it stable em- ployment, as full-time and benefits are deemed important to keeping staff around. Mindful of potential obstacles, Weiland laid out some additional benefits to Boyd from the * 12 days a month with dedicated Boyd coverage in a sample schedule, with three days per month of an officer floating between both communities and 15 days with an officer going between both communities during their shift.

* Designated office hours set aside for village residents to address non-emergent matters * Consistent local ordinance enforcement through a stable law enforcement presence in the community * Weekends, evenings, and community events like the Corn Feed and Ringelspiel all covered through staff scheduling as needed for specific needs of events * Possibility for either specific Boyd designated officer or varied officers from day to day * Flexible scheduling, plus removal of a "constant variable" as the village has to look for part-time replacement once their officer finds employment elsewhere *Full retention of identity in a shared services scenario That last one loomed big, as village trustee and police matters point man Casey Dorn noted. Going with the merger as opposed to shared services, he felt, could lead to comments from older members of the community, a point Weiland acknowledged.

“No one wants to lose that identity,” he said. The recruitment and retention reality, though, meant something had to be done-whatever that turned out to be. The old service models, just weren't working anymore. Dorn had one last question.

"No other issues or village seeking services?" “Nothing currently,” Weiland said to Dorn.

Next up to present was area resident and Chippewa County Sheriff Jim Kowalczyk, laying aside his taxpayer designation for the present and shifting to that of presenting Sheriff.

“As Lance said, we are a family, we work together, and we would never turn down services," Kowalczyk said in beginning his own presentation and counter offer. Kowalczyk made his presentation with the help of Deputy Andy Clark, making an offer by letter for 20 contracted coverage hours, to be backed up by the Sheriff Department’s considerable resources. Among those commu- nities currently enjoying contracted services from the Sher iff’s Department locally was New Auburn, while the com- mon practice of contracted services in statewide terms also had local benefits, among them the following: * Local control * Local identity * 24-hour supervision * Cost avoidance of a new police building and expansion, and

* Liability reduction Also of note in the Sheriff’s proposal was taking person- nel matters such as hiring out of the village board's hands and keeping citation revenue from municipal court within the Boyd village account. The question of a municipal court and whether it existed or was relevant came up, with the re – sult that Boyd uses Chippewa County as opposed to having its own, like many other communities.

At the same time, contracting with the Sheriff’s Depart- ment would mean a cop on the street and proactive enforce ment, with drugs and the burglaries that accompany these as a byproduct are a big issue. Criminals don’t limit their activity, to the place they live.

Accompanying Sheriff Kowalczyk to the November 2 presentation was Deputy Andy Clark, who gave a Power Point presentation further outlining what the County could offer.

Among the Powerpoint items of note were enforcement of "specific City, Town, or Village ordinances," along with a role for the village trustees to help determine specific areas of deployment and enforcement.

In addition, Boyd would choose the amount of services and hours that suit the community and have input into the Sheriff’s Department personnel assigned as part of the contract.

For local control and department accountability matters, a Sheriff's Office supervisor would act as liason between the county and community, consulting community officials to “ensure complete satisfaction with the quality of police ser- vice provided," along with keeping of daily logs and month ly statistical reports. With 46 Deputy Sheriffs and 10 support staff living in Chippewa County, the Department had been serving residents since 1854, and was proud of its record, with contracted services taking personnel matters like re cruitment, training, hiring, labor negotiations, discipline, and time off out of village administrators hands, leaving them free to concentrate on the day to day aspects of managing Boyd. Patrol officers, meanwhile, had up to 30 years of law enforcement experience and would be the first to respond in a time of need. With a dedicated K9 unit and task force partnerships including but not limited to the West Central Drug Task Force, Sexual Assault Response Team, Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and Child Advocacy Center Team, the resources at disposal of Chippewa County deputies were formidable. In the end, though, 20 hours per week of contracted police services as stipulated by letter just wasn’t enough for the $60,000 in budget funding it would cost.

“I don’t think that would be a wise choice,” McQuillan said of 20-hours service from the County for the investment by the village.

Now, the talks with Stanley can begin.

As to the November 8 Monday meeting more generally, the Village Board spent considerable time discussing Waste Management and recycling issues, with the takeaway that residents can likely expect to have another charge on their garbage bill as opposed to their water bill soon.

The charge related to recycling will reflect services which Waste Management provides that are currently picked up by the village. Deadlock ensued for several minutes on the proper way forward and how to address the issue, with a motion finally made by Gwen Krizan, seconded by village president Bob Geist to approve "passing the cost of recycling on to the res –

idents as opposed to the village." “I just know people already complain about their water bill,” Krizan said of the other option for billing recycling services.

Should you happen to be in need of a recycling bin, mean- while, the village hall was said to have these at Monday's meeting-stay tuned as this environment related matter de –

velops.

Last but not least and somewhat more upbeat if nothing else, informal talk was heard Monday on possible lights to grace Murray Street this holiday season, while further to the north lights from some residents can already be seen—no cue necessary on this one.