9/28/2006
How many stolen bicycles can be jammed in the City Hall's attic?
Appleton’s Capital Facilities Committee is recommending the City construct a new police station not to exceed $11,812,500 and 65,000 square feet. The recommendation is 26% smaller than the 88,000 sq. ft. initially requested by the Police Department.
In grinding down the square footage – and at the same time, agreeing the city can only afford $11+ million – the Committee had to get a little creative.
It’s refreshing!
Contrast this: At an information session for the public, an Appleton resident told the Committee (quoting meeting minutes) “to do whatever is needed in this building to meet the goals of the Appleton PD.”
What about the goals of the taxpayers? Not to deride PD leadership one iota…. but the goals of the taxpayers may not be the same as the goals of the Chief of Police.
So catch this discussion… Committee members, having determined they can only afford $11 - $13M, are trying to figure how/where best to eke out square footage savings (going from 88,000 square feet to 65,000 sq. ft. – remember?). One of the priority needs they tackled was trimming down the bicycle storage room, as initially requested for a new station. The Deputy Chief says about 500 stolen/recovered bikes are released each year, requiring about 15 minutes each; in addition, 250 phone call inquiries are received annually. For each inquiry, someone must physically sort through the bicycles. If the bikes are stored in an attic at City Hall, just how could officers cope?
Here are a few of the Committee’s suggestions:
- Bikes in storage after 30 days could be stored off site, leaving those most likely to be called about – in those first 30 days - nearby.
- Bike releases could be done only one day of each week. (This used to be the policy, but was expanded due to calls by residents – us - to increase service levels.)
- Photos could be taken of each bike to keep from having an officer physically inspect the whole collection following an inquiry.
Novel ideas…..
Jo Egelhoff, FoxPolitics.net
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