Neighbor News
Our First Responders Are There For Us. We Need To Be There For Them
Why I'm voting YES on the new Public Safety Building on November 4th. And hope you will too. By Andy Sternlieb
Years ago, we had just moved into our new home in North Salem when very late one night the burglar alarm went off. We tried everything to disconnect it…removed batteries, tried resetting it. Nothing worked. Our dogs were freaking out. And, quite frankly, so were we.
Forty-five minutes later there was a knock at the door. Two state troopers arrived. Finally. If it were a real burglary we could have been robbed, potentially harmed – maybe dead. In Northern Westchester, local cops patrol during the day. At night state troopers in Somers and Pound Ridge patrol in all the northeastern Westchester towns – 4 or 5 troopers for the entire area.
These are the kinds of incidents that happen when you have a skeleton crew serving a broad community.
Ridgefield doesn’t.
Fast forward to today. We now live here in Ridgefield and feel incredibly lucky to have the most amazing police – and fire department – who are ever ready to come to our rescue. In mere minutes. I’ve met many of them in person. The quality of the departments and the individuals in them is extraordinary. Their devotion to the town is exemplary. They volunteer beyond their shifts.
I realize there are many concerns over the cost of The Public Safety Building. I get it. $77.4 million sounds like a lot of money. And then there are the potential tax hikes.
I hope to present the human side of this project. And why we should support it.
Beyond the fact that these facilities – over 100 years old – not only don’t meet the needs of our first responders, but they are also completely out of compliance with modern health and safety requirements.
For example, some of the fire department’s trucks are custom made – at an additional cost - because they are too wide for the building on Catoonah Street.
Our firefighters face serious health concerns due to exposure to toxic chemicals released when today’s building materials and furniture burns. Regulations stipulate that everyone showers within an hour after returning to the firehouse. Well, we have one shower for the men, one for the women.
Our fire fighters deserve better.
As far as the police department goes, our officers are packed into tiny offices with as many as six officers crammed into one room.
They are regularly out on our roads 24/7. And are confronted with some intense challenges. They deserve the wellness services to help them deal with these issues.
We have three assisted living facilities in town. Think about the challenges senior safety presents. Beyond emergency calls, officers run into situations, for example, where seniors are being scammed and defrauded. Our Chief has been paying attention to that and going out and doing a lot of presentations about safety for seniors.
The police station also has insufficient showers for the team. And there aren’t sufficient private interview rooms. Just imagine the indignity of no privacy during an interview of a victim of spousal abuse. Imagine sharing your story in the bull pen or on the steps outside.
Our police officers deserve better. Our fellow citizens deserve better.
These officers can work anywhere. At this point, we risk losing our most experienced officers and potential good recruits from applying for open positions. When they choose Ridgefield, we should take as good care of them as they do of us.
In 2019, the town paid a lot of money for a feasibility study which explored all the options and came back with a firm recommendation. A public safety facility to house not just the police department, the fire department, but also the volunteer fire department, the EMS, ambulances and paramedics
The town has already knocked $9 million off in the planning process before the first referendum. They’ve now reduced the budget another $8 million to bring the costs down. We are right squarely in the average cost for all these kinds of facilities at $1,000 per square foot.
The project has been unanimously approved by the Board of Police Commissioners, Board of Selectpersons and Board of Finance – by both Democrats and Republicans! Now residents will be asked to vote on it in an upcoming referendum on Election Day, November 4.
The proposed new facility brings many operational efficiencies. By combining the two facilities, you have one HVAC system, one electrical system, one plumbing system, one maintenance operation, conference rooms that can be used by all departments and for privacy for citizens. That saves us money!
The new facility would give us the ability to do cross-training between the police, the fire department and EMS. Better services for us.
They can share their Wellness Center and the training facilities.
We want the best quality departments we can have. We want to support our first responders as best we can.
I've been to almost every meeting on the subject. I get the sense that people think it's a nice-to-have.
This is not luxury. Not some vanity project. This is about 21st century policing and fire fighting and emergency response. Every year we delay the cost goes up. The time is now.
We have the best police department for a town of our size anywhere. Our professional firefighters are amazing. When you see them on Main Street grabbing a quick bite or ice cream cone, be sure to say Hi and thanks.
And don’t forget that the professional firefighters are a small fraction of the department – the vast majority are our fellow town members who volunteer their services on behalf of the town and for the benefit of all of us! The same with our EMS and ambulance teams. They too deserve the best.
While Ridgefield is a town of about 26,000 people, our town serves as the commercial hub for many parts of North Salem, South Salem, North Wilton, Redding and even parts of Danbury. Our commercial district is so vibrant because of all these people who come to our town to spend their money at our restaurants, shops, bars, gyms, and yoga studios. The become part of our family at our churches and synagogue. And that requires more effort on the part of our cops, firefighters and EMSers.
Ridgefield has been named the safest city in the country for three years in a row. That’s outstanding. We should all want to keep that record. Our police, fire fighters and EMS responders deserve better.
Given the above, I support every effort to keep that going. That means approving the new Public Safety Building on November 4th.
