Future of Millerton police continues to weigh on Village Board’s minds

MILLERTON — Continuing its work in assessing and answering residents’ questions about the future of the Millerton Police Department (MPD), the Village Board  held a meeting on Tuesday, May 10, for the sole purpose of reviewing the comments and questions raised at a public hearing on the matter on Wednesday, April 20.

More than 30 people attended that hearing last month on a proposed local law to abolish the MPD and replace it with contracted services from the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO). In addition to the entire Village Board, more than a dozen local residents attended the meeting on May 10, as did MPD Officer-in-Charge Michael Veeder.

Mayor Jenn Najdek explained it was a working meeting and no public comments would be heard. While several questions resulted from the April public hearing, she said they mostly related to police hours, costs and what the different police entities would do for the village.

“This is an opportunity for us as a board publicly to work through it,” Najdek said.

To start, Village Trustee Laurie Kerr suggested doing something that’s “cost-neutral” that would give the village 21 hours of police coverage per week.

Should they go with 21 hours, Trustee Alicia Sartori said the board should see what the sheriff’s deputies’ schedule would look like.

Najdek brought up the call volume in the village and suggested it might be easier, data-wise, to combine every incident MPD officers have encountered and parse that with all the 911 calls.

Trustee Dave Sherman spoke of the different financial ramifications should the MPD dissolve, including the disappearance of the town of North East’s annual 20% contractual contribution to the village’s police budget.

Trustee Matthew Hartzog reminded the board if the town doesn’t join in the police services contract, police coverage will shrink as a result.

Reflecting on past police services in Millerton, Sherman said “unfortunately our relationship between the village and town has not changed to reflect the [different] complexion of the communities. I think the town needs to take a larger step forward… and also help the village more than they have been… The town has to pitch in and start paying a much larger share than last year.”

The mayor agreed days later when asked if the town should contribute a larger share if the MPD continues to serve both municipalities.

At the meeting, Najdek asked when and how long the DCSO shifts would be. In April, Acting Sheriff Kirk Imperati said the DCSO would establish a substation where the existing MPD station is at Village Hall if the contract with the village is approved.

As trustees exchanged suggestions for shifts, Sartori suggested there will be more flexibility for additional hours and during holidays with the DCSO. Najdek noted the DCSO needs only one week’s notice to adjust its schedule, and the village will only be billed for shifts that are filled.

Kerr asked if it’s been decided whether the village will have one or two deputies patrol Millerton, as the aim “to have consistent people to provide continuity in the village.”

At Sartori’s suggestion of having a police presence in Millerton on weekends, Kerr talked about also having a police present on Main Street, Dutchess Avenue and Century Boulevard given the amount of activity in those areas on weekends.

Najdek said she’d like deputies, or MPD officers as the case may be, to engage with residents, visitors and youth at the park on weekends.

Sartori suggested having more patrols at the local cemeteries given recent incidents of vandalism in the village.

The board went into executive session to discuss personnel and labor matters; the audience was asked to exit and rejoined the board shortly later. Before adjourning the meeting, the board unanimously voted to retain Girvin & Ferlazzo, P.C., for labor counsel. Najdek said the board will put what it discussed that night into a document and have the village attorney review it before posting it online at www.villageofmillerton.net.