Town Council Approves Additional Captain Position For Enfield PD

An additional captain's position at the Enfield Police Department was approved by the Town Council during its regular meeting Monday night.

The council also received a report and a request for facilities use by the Educational Resources for Children (ERfC) of Enfield.

Not originally on the publicized agenda for the meeting, council members added and quickly approved the additional captain's position. Noting that the current budget should be sufficient for the salary differential, Mayor Scott Kaupin thanked the council for the approval. He also announced the officers slated for promotions to fill the positions are Lt. Jeffrey Golden and Lt. Fred Hall.

Claire Hall, Executive Director of ERfC, gave an overview of the scope and reach of the program. Last year, the non-profit company served over 420 children in various capacities, including after-school programs, summer activities, and sports.

Formed in 1994, the agency is seeking to expand its reach into all seven elementary schools in the district. It currently operates at JFK, Alcorn, and Barnard schools. In addition to the after-school program, Hall proposed a before-school program, citing popularity among participating parents for such an option.

The company offers a sliding fee schedule based on means testing for its programs; currently, 62 percent of participating families receive a subsidy for enrollment. The non-profit relies on grants, fees, donations and municipal support for its operations.

Deputy Mayor Ken Nelson shared his concern that a taxpayer-supported after-school program would be unfair competition to private daycare providers in the town.

“If we allow for you, we need to allow for everybody else out there that's doing the same thing,” Nelson said, citing the costs that private providers bear in terms of transportation and facilities.

In a pointed exchange, Hall defended the program, claiming that the children they served were generally not able to afford private daycare rates, and so would not be a direct competitor with those businesses.

“As far as what ERfC does,” Hall explained, “we offer programming for children who cannot go to daycare, there's just no dollars.”

Several council members noted a reluctance to a partnership with the ERfC until they received clarification from the school district as to why that entity refused to partner with the non-profit group.

The request for assistance the ERfC is seeking from the town consists of three parts: a partnership with Social Services, allowing improved access to grant funding; increased availability of facilities for before- and after-school and summer programs; and Board of Education cooperation for a waiver of public health licensing for continued use of school buildings.

Anxiety over a possible loss of state funding for programs prompted the ERfC to seek support from the municipality. The council took no action on the requests pending further information regarding the program and a report from the Board of Education.

The council canceled two of its regularly scheduled 2011 meetings, on July 18 and August 15, due to the lighter summer workload.

A public hearing for a revision to the alarm ordinance will be held June 20 at 6:45 p.m. in the Council Chambers.