The Owen-Withee Police Committee met on Monday September 16, 2024 to take another look at the union contract, budget and third officer.

The committee got a marked up copy of the union contract so they could see the changes which included health insurance increases, conditions of insurance, wages, longevity pay, and longevity pay for new hires with experience. The contract was approved.

Chief of Police Patrick Fehlman reworked the budget, still including the hiring of a third officer. He made a few cuts to his previous proposal, but it was discovered that workmen’s compensation and Wisconsin State Retirement (WRS) had not been part of the budget, even though the contract between Owen and Withee says that Withee should be paying a portion of those items. This added $3,500 to the insurance portion of the budget and $28,608.32 for retirement. Fehlman said he tried to cut where he could but it is a pretty tight budget. He is also going to try for some grant funding.

In regard to the police garage, committee member Jason Thornton said that Owen public works was willing to remove the current building and use it for cold storage.

Fehlman said that something that is always brought up is ordinance enforcement. They could do more of that with a third person, especially in regard to junk vehicles, garbage and pallets in yards.

Drug enforcement was also discussed in terms of a third officer being available. Fehlman said Officer Haugstad can run the dog with stops by another officer. They could use their K9 more in Owen and Withee. He said the Sheriff’s Office can’t guarantee help with enforcement. He pointed out that the money spent on K9 Jimi will start paying off. Haugstad said in four years, K9 Jimi has been deployed about 200 times with only a handful of those in town. Fehlman said on the last stop they got cocaine and methamphetamine. Haugstad said Colby/Abby takes advantage of having enough people on their department to use their own dog. People know that and they avoid driving through town. Fehlman said that if drugs are found in a car, that helps to get a warrant to search a person’s house. Committee member Bob Wilczek pointed out that Highway 29 is a major corridor from Milwaukee to Minneapolis and that these people do stop in town. Fehlman gave the example of someone he picked up recently that was passed out in their car with drugs in their lap, they were not local. Committee member Everett Lindgren said there are a lot of drugs locally too. Thorton said that it would be hard to sell getting a new K9 when Jimi retires if he isn’t being used and the numbers aren’t there. Wilczek stated his belief that without a third officer, the K9 program is “dead in the water.” He said the officers are working a lot and doing investigations, that they are swamped. Fehlman added that the detectives at the Sheriff’s Office are also swamped. They are passing some of the older cases in Owen-Withee back to the local department for investigation.

Owen Mayor Scott Jalling asked how long they can hold someone while they wait for a K9 to come. The response was 90 minutes, but their average stop is 7-10 minutes. If Officer Haugstad is already on duty, a random dog sniff is how they get a lot of drugs. Officer Haugstad said he doesn’t respond to another department’s request for a dog if they have a delayed stop. He also said that it is frowned upon if you search a car by yourself. He can do his own stop and deploy Jimi if he has a reasonable suspicion that drugs are in the vehicle, but it isn’t safe for the officer and he said it doesn’t happen very often.

There was then some discussion about what happened at the Withee meeting. Wilczek said that WRS is the only major change to the budget. Lindgren said they also didn’t have the union contract. Committee chairperson Pam Jaffke pointed out that a county officer would not have done what Fehlman did with the junk property in Withee. She added they have been given an increase in state aid. Wilczek said he understood that the increase to the budget is “terrifying” and asked if it would be more doable without the addition of WRS. Lindgren said that money is tight, but Fehlman pointed out that if the Act 12 money pays for fire that frees up money for other things. He said he can’t believe that all of the Act 12 money received has been allocated. Lindgren pointed out that the fire district has also not completed their budget. He is willing to take the proposal to his board for approval. Lindgren said he isn’t against it, but they need to have the money to pay for it.

The police officers were called away to deal with a stolen vehicle and were gone for a short period of time. During that time, Wilczek said that when the former officers left funds were put into savings. He asked if some of that money was used to subsidize the budget for one year, would that help. The Act 12 money is expected to go up every year. He pointed out that Owen would basically be paying for two officers and Withee for one as the budget is proposed. The services provided are important and if they are going to spend money, they should spend it there. Wilczek feels that people looking at moving into town look at whether a community is safe, especially if they have young children. Jaffke did not agree with pushing the problem of financing the department down the road. Committee member Sue Kalepp also said that money is tight and that you can’t go in the hole. She said she doesn’t want to see two officers working at the same time. Thornton said the complaint he has heard is that no one is working sometimes while school is in session. Kalepp suggested the officers change up their schedules, move it around, and do something different if there are three of them. Wilczek asked why she didn’t say that when the officers were present. Lindgren said they have to take the budget before their board. He repeated that he isn’t opposed to a third officer and that they can only do it if the money is there. Wilczek did agree there was a problem with schedules when the previous officers were here and that sometimes they were even seen riding in the same car.

The officers returned to the meeting and Kalepp did state for them that the biggest complaint she hears is that two officers are on at the same time and that they need to switch up their schedules. Fehlman said they do need some overlap to run K9 Jimi and asked for a chance to show them the results. He said the complaints are old and that the only overlap that they usually have is for a couple of hours one day a week, or sometimes when there are meetings. Kalepp asked if the third person would only be working nights and weekends. Fehlman said that they would have a rotating schedule but that the new person would be working nights.

It was pointed out that the Sheriff’s Office also complains about the time their officers spend here when no local officer is working. But they need to look at the calls, if they are covering situations, when they see things happening. Haugstad said they may not even be in Owen-Withee, but the county says they are covering the community. He also said, “Just because you don’t see us doesn’t mean we are not working.” Fehlman said he would rather be able to just do more patrol as he finds it the relaxing part of his job.

Lindgren said he thinks it will pass but he has to take it back to his board. He said he thinks the current officers are doing a good job and that it will pass at Withee’s next meeting. At that point, it was asked if a meeting could happen sooner. Kalepp asked how soon someone could be hired. Fehlman said they could start the process, but it would take time to get applications, do interviews and background checks. Thornton pointed out that they already budget for the fire department so the extra funds could go to the police department and whatever is left to public works. Lindgren agreed they should spread it around, but said there are lots of needs. Owen Clerk Tracy Rau suggested not even putting the money into the budget so it would be easier to keep track of how it is spent. Lindgren suggested they table the approval of the budget and officer and that Withee schedule a special meeting. Jalling wondered about the two boards-Owen and Withee-having a joint meeting. Lindgren felt that Owen had already approved it so he would like for Withee to have their own meeting. Thornton asked if there was a budget available that didn’t include the third officer, otherwise if it wasn’t approved, these meetings could go into December. Wilczek asked again about using savings and planning for the increase a year from now. Jaffke didn’t want to do that. Lindgren said it would cut the cost this year, but double it next year. Thornton asked if the committee had to approve the budget first. The response was yes and then it could go back to the respective boards. Lindgren wanted to talk to his board first. Wilczek said they are only approving the amended budget to go back to the village board and city council. Fehlman asked if he could post the position if both boards approve it.

Two motions were approved. The first approved the updated budget for presentation to each municipality. The second approved the posting of the position for a third officer if the budget is approved by both boards.

The new budget numbers are a total of $364,876.80, with Owen’s portion set at $237,169.92 and Withee’s at $127,706.88. This is an increase of $41,307.06 for Owen and $22,242.26 for Withee.