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Marshal defends schedule of part-time department |
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Written by Mark Jaeger
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Wednesday, 08 September 2010 17:51 |
Davel says he wishes he could give officers even more overlapping shifts
Criticism voiced in an anonymous letter to the Fredonia Village Board had officials at a recent meeting coming to the defense of the village marshal’s office.
The letter, signed “Concerned Fredonia Citizens,” questioned the part-time department’s practice of scheduling overlapping shifts for officers on patrol.
“My neighbors and I have noted that there are many instances when two village patrol cars are on duty at the same time. We’ve seen them in our neighborhood together and also sometimes on different ends of the town,” the letter-writers said.
“A lot of time this is during the day or early morning when there is is absolutely nothing going on in the village. I sincerely hope that the board is reviewing the hours that these multiple officers work and this it is not just a free for all for them to put in extra hours.”
The letter sharply criticized staffing levels during difficult financial times.
“Most communities are laying off officers or cutting back on hours, and we seem to have a vast multitude of officers doing nothing,” the writers said.
The village’s policy is to ignore unsigned letters, but Village Marshal Mike Davel could not help but respond to the criticisms.
“Letters like this are received by every municipality. Police operations are prone to these types of complaints, due to the nature of our interaction with citizens and a general lack of understanding of police operations,” Davel wrote in response.
“The fact that the village has received only one letter like this in the last five years is more remarkable than the letter itself. I firmly believe that people with good intentions and a desire to seek information will identify themselves. The unsigned letter leads me to believe the real purpose of the letter is not to raise a valid issue, but instead, to cause an issue.”
Davel said he is more concerned that the part-time nature of the department means he seldom has the opportunity to schedule more than one officer on a shift.
Two officers are occasionally scheduled during times when incidents are more likely to occur, he said.
“I don’t know what this person means by ‘nothing going on,’ and in fact I can’t accurately predict when something will be going on. What I can do is look at activity levels and plan for the
increased likelihood of activity during particular times of the day,” Davel said.
Even during those times when two deputy marshals are on duty, Davel said, the village’s police-staffing level is far below the state average of 1.95 officers per 1,000 residents.
In previous discussions with the Village Board, Davel has repeatedly said that his office is protecting the community, not raising revenue.
However, he said the department has more than tripled its annual revenue during his tenure, to about $10,000.
Trustee Fritz Buchholtz said he too has heard criticism of the department’s scheduling.
“The perception is out there that we have officers on duty when we don’t need them, and don’t have them when we do need them,” Buchholtz said.
Several trustees said they would like to see the duty schedule for the marshal’s office, although Davel has said he doesn’t think that schedule should be made public. |
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Thistles seek flood assurance |
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Written by Mark Jaeger
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Wednesday, 01 September 2010 15:59 |
Trustees say developer must repair drainage ditch before starting next phase
Kendall and Carla Thistle have been dealing with flooding concerns on their Highway 57 property ever since the neighboring Village Green subdivision began to take shape some four years ago.
The couple returned to the Fredonia Village Board last week, reminding officials that their problems haven’t gone away, even as floodwaters have ebbed and flowed.
The Thistles live in the Town of Fredonia, but the 160-acre subdivision that wraps around their seven-acre property is in the village.
It was the village that reviewed the drainage plans for the development proposed by MasterCraft Builders and Regency Hills Development, spurring the couple’s repeated appearances before village officials.
Their primary concern is a drainage ditch the developer created along the Thistles’ north property line.
After heavy rains and spring melting, stormwater runoff from a subdivision detention pond accumulates on the Thistle property before reaching a drainage culvert that runs under Highway 57.
The developers have conceded the ditch design was flawed and had an alternate plan approved by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources officials.
However, the troubled economy has cut off the flow of money into the development, leading to the shelving of the ditch redesign.
The developer’s financial pinch has done little to ease the Thistles’ problems.
“We are still experiencing flooding coming from the development onto our property along our north property line. Our concern is that if this issue is not addressed on a regular basis, it will be presumed to not be a problem,” the couple said in a photo-laden, 16-page memo to village officials.
“A matter of further concern is that the area above the ditch as designated on the improvement plans is a ‘TD’ or ‘temporary ditch.’ When the area is finally developed, the ‘TD’ will be removed and the final grading will deliver even more water toward our property as your maps currently show.
“We feel as if we have been extremely patient in this matter. We are hoping to obtain a form of closure on this issue, or at least a conduit for that closure to happen. We are only looking to have done what was promised to us by the Village of Fredonia and the developer.”
For the past four years, the temporary ditch has been lined by silt fence and straw bales, construction measures that are typically in place for less than one year.
At last month’s board meeting, village officials reiterated the fear that if the village took any steps to correct the drainage problem, they would accept liability for damage done on the Thistle property or elsewhere.
When Kendall Thistle appeared with the same request last summer, Village President Joe Short said the village would be willing to make the repair of the drainage ditch a condition of approval of the second phase of the development.
There has been no indication that the second phase of the Village Green development is near, but Thistle said he still wants some assurance from the village it plans to pursue that strategy.
“I would like to get some sort of guarantee on the record that this will get done eventually, so I can sleep at night,” he said.
Short said, “I have no problem putting it on record that the ditch should be corrected as part of phase two.”
Thistle said he would return in September, when the board is expected to take formal action linking the drainage work with any future expansion of the subdivision.
On the south side of their property, the couple have also encountered flooding from the Village Green development, leading them to erect a berm that created a drainage pond on the adjacent Northern Ozaukee School District property.
The district paid to have the pond drained earlier this year.
The school district is finalizing plans to pursue legal action against the Thistles and the developer to ensure the ponding does not reoccur.
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Communities 
