Windham County Sheriff's Department
~ Breaking News ~

By HOWARD WEISS-TISMAN, Reformer Staff
Brattleboro Reformer

The decision will push the village deeper into the red, but Municipal Manager John Schempf said that a recent spate of vandalism has not slowed down and the village needed to act now to try to prevent further damage to property in Bellows Falls.

"We're asking you to add this money to the budget now so we can get a handle on this vandalism," Schempf told the board before the vote.

"School is out soon and it's almost summer time and we want to get started."

Village residents, at the annual meeting earlier this month, voted to add $90,000 to the budget to bring the police department back up to full time after the trustees cut the department in March.

But the annual meeting vote only applies to next year's budget, which begins on July 1.

Schempf wanted to bring the police force back up to 24-hour coverage right away to try to stop the crime wave that has hit the area.

Last month, vandals struck the Bellows Falls Middle School and other sites around the village. In recent days, about $600 in damage was done to the Waypoint Center, some cars were vandalized and some windows were shot out at the recreation center with a BB gun.

Interim police chief, Sgt. John Dunfee, said officers Jody LaFlame and Alison Forney, the two who were cut to part time when the trustees trimmed the budget, will both be put back to full time.

Dunfee said he hoped to have his force back to 24-hour coverage in time for the upcoming holiday weekend.

Schempf said he met with Dunfee this week to talk about the rash of vandalism and the two decided to ask the trustees for authorization to add the extra $10,000 to the budget to extend law enforcement to 24 hours a day.

The village already is facing an approximately $100,000 deficit in the current year, and Village President Clark Barber asked Schempf to make sure that overtime is kept to a minimum in the coming months.

The $147,000 TransCanada payment is going to take care of the current deficit.

Village trustee Roger Riccio wanted to know why Dunfee was not being appointed to the position of chief.

Since former Police Chief Keith Clark quit the Bellows Falls Police Department to run for Windham County Sheriff, the village has been without a chief and Dunfee has been acting chief.

Riccio wanted to talk about the future plans for a chief of police, but Schempf said he was not ready to talk about the issue and promised to address it at a future board meeting.

The village has been grappling with a way to control rising property taxes while providing the services that residents have come to expect.

Last year at the annual meeting, the budget was defeated and residents only passed it at a second meeting after the trustees promised to address the high tax rate.

Then, this year, the trustees slashed the police department by 25 percent, but the voters at the annual meeting put $90,000 back into next year's budget to fully fund the police force.

On Tuesday, the trustees again changed their tune and backpedaled on their decision to save some money by pulling back on the police service.

The vote means that the village will begin the next fiscal year $10,000 in the hole.

Howard Weiss-Tisman can be reached at hwtisman@reformer.com or 802-254-2311 ext. 279.