By Andrew Walsh
awalsh@wbcowqel.com
Renovations to the New Washington Police Department got the official go ahead from Council Monday night. A remodeling project for the garage at the back of Village Hall has been discussed by village officials for some time, but quotes from Studer-Obringer and Chatfield Hardware were ratified by council to set the project officially on its way.
The proposed renovations will see two office spaces carved out of the existing garage space in the back of village hall. One of these offices will be the full-time office for the police chief, and the other office will be general use for the officer on duty. This will ease congestion in the general room in Village Hall which currently serves as the office for the entire police department, as well as sharing the space with other village departments.
The construction portion of the portion of the project was bid at $17,000 from Studer-Obringer.
The electrical and heating work had two bids come in, one from Dave Aichholz (DJ Plumbing and Heating) and one from the Chatfield Hardware. The Aichholz bid was $11,000 for electrical renovations and the installation of geothermal for heating and cooling the newly created back rooms. The Chatfield Hardware bid came in at $2,464.
The Aichholz bid’s inclusion of the geothermal unit added substantially to the price of his bid. The Chatfield Hardware was of the opinion that these rooms were of such a small size that heating and cooling could be extended from the system that is already in place for the existing offices. There will be some add-ons to the Chatfield Hardware bid, as some minor electrical work that was discussed around the council table was not included in that, but even with that the bid will be substantially lower than the other bid submitted.
Patty Krebs updated council on the collection of taxes. She wrapped up the fourth quarter from 2015 and the final tally was $290,049.64. This put 2015 $32,154 behind collections for 2014, although this can mostly be explained away by withholdings from one local business being $21,000 lower in 2015 compared to 2014. So far in 2016 collections stand at $72,363. The good news is that this is ahead of last year at the same point, which was $70,126.
The Hatchery Festival committee from the American Legion gave a brief update to council about proceedings for 2016. The dates have been solidified as June 9, 10, and 11. The contract for the rides have been confirmed. The committee asked to council to provide the same assistance as was provided in 2015.
In law enforcement, Mayor Ben Lash extended his gratitude to Police Chief Jeff Shook and the new Solicitor Tim Obringer, for their work on the Police Department guidelines and regulations that have been recently drafted.
“I think it’s a very good document to guide our police department,” Lash said.
Obringer echoed the mayor’s words, remarking at how well the document was written, and needing very little revision from the legal department.
Lash also recommended a resolution to council that would codify the pay scale of probationary and permanent part-time police officers. Resolution 1301, which was passed by council, set the pay for probationary officers at $10.50 per hour, increasing to $12 per hour on May 16, 2017. It set the pay for the permanent part time staff at $13 per hour, retroactive back to Jan. 3 of 2016. Probationary officers are newly hired patrol personnel working during their six-month probationary period.