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 For
the first time in the Village of Pinecrest's short history the Police
Department is fully staffed and the new budget calls for hiring five
more officers.
However, when Police Chief Hohensse laid out how the additional
officers would help the department, council member Blaxberg expressed
his discontent with the plan that includes putting more officers on
the street to keep up the traffic enforcement.
Blaxberg received no support from the other council members when he
tried to suggest that instead of traffic enforcement, officers should
be on a continuous roving route throughout the community. Blaxberg
tried to re-enforce his position by stating that statistics that show
crime is down are not good enough, because his wife and her friends
are afraid to go for a walk.
I take offense to such a statement. We must each take some responsibly
for our own personnel safety in today's world, be it in Pinecrest or
anywhere. I am not suggesting that it can't happen in Pinecrest, but
the women who have had problems (one is a dear friend of mine) were
not sexually assaulted -- they were robbed.
In each case the women were walking while wearing expensive jewelry. I
walk or run several times a week, I wear a plastic watch that I own
specifically for that purpose and I make an effort to be aware of my
surroundings and, thankfully, I have never experienced any problem.
As the police chief said that evening, even if he put an officer at
every corner he could not guarantee that there would be no crime. He
re-enforced his position that traffic enforcement helps deter crime
with an example that occurred the night before the budget hearing. An
officer made an arrest after pulling over a car with a license tag
that was not properly displayed. It turned out that the tag was stolen
and the driver, a woman, had an outstanding arrest warrant.
I agree with other council members that they hired a professional to
do the job and they should not micro manage him.
There were several other budget items of interest to the community at
large. The council approved spending money that has already been
collected in the storm water fund (and can only be used for a related
project) to hire a consultant to provide a comprehensive drainage
study of the Village. The council would then determine what level of
drainage service it wants to incorporate as part of the master plan.
Currently, the Village has no plan, and improvements are done on an ad
hoc basis.
As the policy stands today, when residents complain that water is
collecting on the street or swale in front of their homes, someone
from the Village comes out to investigate and determine if the Village
should undertake resolving the problem. The study would help define
what level of service the Village wants to provide and the cost of
providing that level.
Simply put, can the Village afford to undertake a drainage program
that would address what is referred to as 10- or 20-year storms
(storms like last year's Irene, that only come around every 10 or so
years)? It also would address a level of service for standing water
after the more common heavy summer thunderstorms.
Also budgeted is a $30,000 expenditure for an audit that would
determine if the Village is properly collecting all of the money due
from franchise fees. Franchise fee revenue collected from electric,
telecommunications, gas and like companies contribute nearly $3
million to the overall budget.
Although a determination has not been reached whether the Village will
undertake bringing in city water, $1million also was allocated to
capital improvements in the event that the water project goes forward.
This money would be repaid to the Village through the project bond.
There has been a great response to a survey sent to 2,200 homeowners
currently using well water. However, because the survey deadline has
not been reached, the Village manager did not want to give the results
of the 800 responses received.
Nevertheless, comments made during the explanation of the need to set
aside the $1 million for the capital improvement, lead me to believe
that the survey was closely divided between those who want city water
and those who don't. A slight majority may be among those who don't
want the city water. However, this was just conjecture on my part and
may be wrong.
I can be reached at 305-666-7969 or via fax, 305-666-8487.
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