The Owen-Withee Police Committee held their regular quarterly meeting on Tuesday, September 1. Two items were brought up during Public Comment. Neither were items that the Police Committee has any authority over as their primary function is the finances of the department.
First Dan and Laken Renderman were present. Dan asked to read a statement. He said, “I'm asking that you guys recommend a police department audit based on misconduct, including but not limited to threats, targeting, bias, conflict of interest, excessive use of force, withholding evidence after an order from a judge, and how the city chooses to handle this matter will directly affect how my attorney handles it from here on out. Not only with the OWPD, but the city as well. I'd also like to know why these officers have spent so much time on duty, either at the Hogan's residence, and at the high school with them. This inappropriate relationship has fueled the conflict of interest and bias investigations that they have done against several people. These officers have proven they are not fit to do this job the way the community deserves. Any further threats or targeting will be deemed harassment and result in additional legal action and me releasing everything I have publicly to the news and social media. We will continue to video every interaction. We will not be violating our rights. Anybody would like to see, there's some things I'm willing to share with board members or anybody that's on this committee. There's obviously some things I'm not willing to share, but if you want to see interactions with hiding evidence with the county attorney, my attorney, and the state judge, I am willing to show that email chain, but other than that, maybe a couple videos. Other than that, I ain't going to share much evidence, but anybody on this committee or the town board wants to see that stuff, I'm willing to show that.” If Renderman’s wish to pursue this, they need to take their complaint to Owen Mayor Scott Jalling and he needs to decide if there is enough evidence to refer it to the Police Discipline Committee.
Board member Randy Shelton brought up the issue of electric bikes. He said, “Kids are just running rampant.” He said there are kids as young as 6 and 8 years old running up and down the street between Withee and Owen, that kids on four-wheelers are running around the trailer park during the day. He added that he is hearing from community members that have been run off the sidewalks by these kids when walking their dogs. The kids have been kicked out of the Jarvis Pavilion in the Lions Park and the Pickleball courts. Shelton said they are a big issue. The police asked if he knew which house they are coming from. Shelton did not. It was also noted that they are not wearing helmets or buckled up. There was concern that someone would get hurt. Chief of Police Patrick Fehlman said that the legislature is working on laws to help with enforcement as current law doesn’t really cover these vehicles. Board member Susan Kalepp felt a little more patrol in the village on the weekends might help. They also brought up semis driving through town “like they own the place.” They are driving too fast and using jake breaks which are illegal in town. It was noted that many of them are owned by the same company. These items will need to be addressed by the Village of Withee and the police.
They then moved on to the Call Report. The committee was given a comparison between all of last year and through the end of August this year. It was noted that last year, there were nine OWIs for the entire year, they are at four so far this year. With traffic crashes, the numbers are opposite with four all of last year and nine so far this year. Chief Fehlman said that warnings and citations are down a little for this year, but he said things can change. They have responded to 28 EMS calls so far this year. They have also arrested 17 adults so far this year, while last year they had 25 for the entire year. They have dealt with four animal bites so far, while last year they had seven for the entire year. In regard to welfare checks they are at 20 so far this year and they had 30 total for last year. As of now, the police have had 511 reportable cases for the year. Last year they had 521 for the entire year. Chief Fehlman also provided a breakdown of what the 511 cases were. That showed that of the times Officer Jake Haugstad deployed K-9 Jimi, there were 10 negative alerts and five positive alerts. It was asked how many of those deployments were local. Fehlman said he didn’t know for sure, but would say the majority were to assist the Clark County Sheriff’s Office or Thorp PD. Officer Haugstad can’t deploy the canine on his own stop without a reasonable suspicion. If someone else makes the stop, he can deploy the canine. If Officer Haugstad isn’t on duty, the local police department would contact Colby-Abbotsford PD or the county for a K-9 if one was needed at their stop. The committee asked questions about how many suspicious drug stops they might have. Officer Jason Scheffler said that he works the same shifts as the county K-9 officer and when he makes a stop, that officer will routinely come and run his dog if he is in the area. The report also showed 12 non-domestic disturbances. Three domestic disturbances involved battery or bodily harm. Fehlman also talked about the drive-offs at the gas stations. Some of them were people who thought they had swiped their card properly, but the machine didn’t register it. The police contact them and they come in and pay. So far, they have only had one that hasn’t. It was a rental car and the company denied owning it. There was a question asked about animals running at large. Fehlman said if they don’t have a collar, they hold them for a bit to see if anyone calls to say their dog is missing. If no one calls, the dog goes to the Clark County Humane Society. He said the first time a person gets a warning. After that they will start writing citations. Chief Fehlman said that when information is reported to the police, it helps combat criminal activity. They need information to get a warrant to search a house for drugs. They also try to find the sources in regard to drugs.
They moved on to discussing the rental agreement for the city garage. Owen’s attorney is still working on it and the item was tabled until the next meeting.
The Axon contract for the tasers, body cams and cloud storage of the information recorded was discussed next. Chief Fehlman said that they also use Axon to redact body cam information and it helps with transcription. They currently have unlimited storage. Fehlman presented three options. Option 1 is to renew the contract with the same features which would also provide them with new equipment. The cost of that for five years would be $49,065.59. Option 2 would allow them to keep their cloud storage and they would keep their current equipment. The cost over five years would be $35,324.66 or $7,064.94 per year. Option 3 would be to pay off the $9,250 owed on the current contract, not renew the contract, and store their body cam footage inhouse. Fehlman said the new cameras only work with the cloud and require a subscription. Their current equipment is working fine and they own it. The committee voted to go with Option 2.
In regard to fundraising, Officer Haugstad will be doing a demonstration with K-9 Jimi at the Firefighters Challenge during the Owen Jr. Fair.
The county is hoping to launch the new RMS program in 2027. Fehlman said it will take time for them to integrate it and they are hoping for a grant to help with those costs. He believes the annual cost to the department will be around $3,000. He is waiting on more information from the county.
Under the equipment/K9 update it was noted that there was a recent bill for K-9 Jimi for lab work and treatment of an ear infection. Fehlman plans to start getting estimates for a squad replacement in 2028. This will replace Officer Haugstad’s squad, which is the oldest. If they go with a Ford in the same body style, the K-9 cage can be transferred to the new squad.
The budget was looked at. Property/Liability/Workers Comp insurance is projected to go down. Wages and benefits are projected to go up about $56,000. This includes pay increases, but also a change in how wages are calculated. The previous city auditor had the clerks not doing things correctly and the city ended up paying the cost for withholding taxes as the amount owed to the city by the police department was based on net wages plus the employer’s share of FICA and Medicare. The new auditors said that to correctly reflect what is owed to the city, they need to use gross pay plus the employer’s share of FICA and Medicare. WRS is projected based on wages. Health insurance will go up about $1,200. Clerical costs are the same as last year. Axon costs will go down based on the selection of Option 2. Office supplies will go down. Computer IT/RMS will go up based on implementing the new RMS system. Telephone and internet will go up about $1,000. Operating costs and uniforms will go down slightly. Squad fuel will remain the same. Squad maintenance will go down slightly as will training and ammunition/guns. The department takes advantage of a lot of free training through the Clark County Sheriff’s Office. Expenses for K-9 Jimi are projected to go down again next year with fundraising helping pay his expenses. He will be retired in 2028. Rent/Utilities will go up about $3,000 based on the proposed rental agreement with the City of Owen. This leaves a total projected budget of $436,649.64 up from $375,368.48 in 2026. Most of this is due to the way wages will be calculated going forward. Owen’s portion is $288,822.27 up from $243,989.51 in 2026. Withee’s portion is $152,827.37 up from $131,378.97 in 2026. This is an increase of just over 16%. Any money not spent in this year’s budget will be rolled into next year’s budget to reduce the amount needed.
The Treasurer’s Report was approved as was payment of the bills after some questions were answered. Clerk Tracy Rau printed out an additional report showing where each account is at for the year. It was noted that some of the numbers still need to be looked at and fixed as some errors were found when the information was transferred to the city’s Workhorse program. This won’t be an issue going forward.
The committee plans to meet again on September 29 at 6:30 p.m. to continue working on the budget.