Ogdensburg to keep police force

Overwhelming opposition from community and a vote against merging with Sparta Police, By Tom Hoffman OGDENSBURG — Ogdensburg will keep its police force. The Ogdensburg Borough Council voted unanimously to retain its six-member police department on Nov. 30, after upwards of 200 concerned residents filled the elementary school gym to voice their displeasure with a proposal to merge Ogdensburg’s police with Sparta’s. Faced with losing up to 80 percent of municipal aid from the state in 2008, the Ogdensburg Borough Council began exploring different ways to reduce its costs, explained Mayor Jim Sekelsky. In January 2009 Ogdensburg and Sparta hired consultant Summit Collaborative Advisors, LLC to conduct a study to determine whether combining the two police forces could save money. Reagan Burkholder, a principal for the consulting group hired for $22,000 (90 percent was funded through state aid), told those at the Monday evening meeting what the study entailed. Summit explored several alternatives for structuring police services between the two towns, he said. These included the formation of a regionalized police department and having Ogdensburg provide daytime police services and receive contracted police services from Sparta for nighttime hours. In the end, the consultants recommended that both towns’ police services would be enhanced if Sparta absorbed four Ogdensburg police officers and Ogdensburg disbanded its own force. Under that scenario, Ogdensburg would have saved $260,000 to $284,000 per year in law enforcement costs while Sparta would have netted approximately $73,000 in annual cost savings by expanding its police force from 38 to 42 officers. Burkholder said the approach was the most financially attractive of the five alternatives that were considered for both towns. Tax effect Although the estimated savings would have represented 15 percent of Ogdensburg’s annual municipal tax levy, many of the several hundred residents who turned out for the meeting Monday night felt the trade-off was not worth it. The annual per household savings under the proposed merge was estimated to be $300, but residents were not happy with the notion of losing a dedicated local police department. During his presentation, Burkholder explained that Ogdensburg would have been part of a zone patrolled by Sparta police but there wouldn’t be round-the-clock police presence anymore. Several residents pointed out that response times by the Ogdensburg police to medical emergencies or other incidents is typically in the four to five minute range. “It will not be the same response time” if the Sparta Police Department were to take over Ogdensburg’s law enforcement services, said Elizabeth Piscatelli, an Ogdensburg resident who said she has a heart condition. “My heart doesn’t know time limits, therefore it doesn’t wait.” Other residents insisted that Ogdensburg has maintained a low crime rate because of the effectiveness of its police department and its continuous presence in town. The borough has a low crime rate “because we have a proactive police force, not a reactive police force,” said former borough councilman Bob Peist. After being informed by Burkholder that each Ogdensburg household stood to save $300 in annual taxes by outsourcing its police services, resident Joe Barrett said he’d be willing to “pay $600 a year to have our own police force.” “For less than one dollar a day to protect my family’s safety and preserve our police department, they (Ogdensburg police) do a great job,” added Bill Amodeo, a 25-year resident. Few favored combined force Of the 21 Ogdensburg residents who spoke during the meeting, only one — Helen Bolton — offered any support for shared police services. “We have to look at how fiscally sound our town is,” said Bolton. She said she’s concerned that the state’s weakened financial condition could eventually force Ogdensburg to merge its police force with Sparta or another municipality if the state continues to cut back on its municipal aid and extraordinary aid. “If taxes go up, people move out and then taxes go up even more,” said Bolton. The situation “becomes unsustainable.” But Mayor Sekelsky said that once the council decided against the shared services proposal, the council couldn’t concern itself with whether the state will reduce its aid to Ogdensburg. “I don’t care. It’s done,” he said. Several residents were angered during the meeting after learning that the Ogdensburg Borough Council intended to hold a non-binding referendum on the matter and decide on the police services issue itself. Councilman Eric Wood tried to assure the crowd toward the end of the two-hour meeting that the council would vote against joint police services, which is what it ended up doing. If the Ogdensburg Borough Council had decided to move forward with negotiating a police services contract with Sparta, the Sparta Township Council would not have put that decision to a public vote, said Sparta Township Manager Henry M. Underhill. The council would have made a decision on behalf of the town.

I think if we lose our police department we are losing our identity. A merger was never an option for me.” Ogdensburg Councilman Eric Wood