Rib Lake approves creating community service officer

Position will help keep peace during events, have limited police powers

The Rib Lake Village Board at its meeting on June 9 approved an ordinance establishing civilian community service officers (CSO).

Police chief Derek Beckstrand said he and the police commission had discussed switching to a CSO rather than hiring a sworn police officer to help out during Ice Age Days. He said it would be a less expensive option, but in order to do that, the village would have to pass an ordinance to do so.

Beckstrand said the CSO would wear a uniform supplied by the village, but would not be issued or permitted to carry a firearm. He said while the CSO would not have the authority to arrest someone, he or she would be able to issue citations for ordinance and/or parking violations.

The ordinance reads, in part, “CSO duties may include, but are not limited to, traffic control, desk duty, assisting motorists locked out of vehicles, animal complaints and control, village ordinance and parking enforcement, taking of criminal and non-criminal reports, conducting station tours, and fingerprinting for noncriminal purposes.” The ordinance further stated that any employment by the village would be “at will.”

Trustee Vernell Van Hecker raised concerns about frequent turnaround in the position and the need for the village to continually purchase new uniforms to fit the new person in the position.

Beckstrand said he had thought of that and rather than just hiring someone for three days a year, he had discussed with the police commission the idea of using the person for several hours a week or every other week to do things like ordinance enforcement just to keep him/her interested in the position.

Van Hecker said that might work, adding he knew police uniforms were not “cheap.” He asked how much a uniform cost. Beckstrand replied a decent pants and shirt would cost around $40. Van Hecker thought that wasn’t “too bad.”

Earlier in the meeting, the board approved purchasing a new portable radio for the police department, since parts for the current radio are no longer available, at a cost of $1,400. Van Hecker asked if the village would have to purchase a second radio. Beckstrand said he would use the new radio and the current radio could be used by the CSO.

Trustee Russ Bullis said he thought it would be a good idea for Beckstrand to use the CSO to help out here and there, rather than just during Ice Age Days. Bullis said even though Beckstrand was doing split shifts, he liked the idea of having another person patrolling the village, noting that the presence of an officer “means a lot.”

The board approved donating $1,000 from the tourism fund to help with the advertising costs for Ice Age Days. In the past, the village had donated $750. Bullis noted the Ice Age Committee had spent $1,378 for advertising in 2019 and that the cost will probably have increased since then. He suggested increasing the village’s donation to $1,000. The board agreed with his suggestion.

The board approved liquor license applications from Enter-Enter (Bird’s Nest), Hanke’s Little Bohemia, Drink Slingers Tavern, Northside Cafe, Camp 28, Ed’s IGA, Medford Co-op, Cynthia Hanke (C & G Mini Mart) and Dolgencorp (Dollar General). It also approved cigarette licenses for Ed’s IGA, C & G Mini Mart, Medford Co-op, Drink Slingers Tavern and Dollar General.

The trustees reviewed and approved the annual water quality and waste water compliance reports. While Rib Lake’s waste water report received ‘A’ marks across the board, Bullis called attention to the increase in influent inflow into the sewer plant for the months of March and April when the snow is melting. He said with all the work the village has done to reduce the amount of clear water flowing into the system, the village still doesn’t have a handle on where the water is coming from.

Van Hecker said they know where it’s coming from and that some of it was coming from sump pumps connected to the sewer system, which is illegal. Bullis said that needed to be changed. Van Hecker agreed and reminded the village that sewer plant operator Dan Koehler had been instructed to work with the village’s attorney to draft an ordinance which would allow public works employees to enter a resident’s home to check if their sump pump was illegally connected to the sewer system. Van Hecker said he hadn’t heard anything on the progress of drafting the ordinance and wondered if anyone else on the board had heard anything. None of the trustees had and agreed they needed to follow-up on it.