by Brad Tastad
Portland city council representatives Tom Geffre and Ed Lenaburg attended the Tuesday, Sept. 18 meeting of the Traill County Commissioners to request that the county Sheriff’s Department take over patrol duties of their cities.
Currently Portland is patrolled by the May-Port Police Department, a force consisting of a police chief and two deputies, but Portland officials feel they are paying too much for the service, and have been less than satisfied with the patrol coverage they have been receiving.
“We’re here on a fact-finding mission,” said Geffre. “We’re interested in sharing the Sheriff  Department’s deputy that is now in Hatton. We’re thinking the deputy could patrol Portland one or two times a day, and be available for calls. We’re wondering what type of costs would be involved.”
Sheriff Mike Crocker felt his department could handle the patrol duties in Portland, and felt they could patrol the City of Portland better than the request of Geffre and Lenaburg.
“(The deputy) in Hatton would work between the two towns, driving back and forth,” explained Crocker. “She would be in Portland more than one or two times a day. Plus, when our other deputies patrol through Clifford and Galesburg, they would also come through Portland.”
The city of Portland is currently paying $39,000 a year for patrol coverage and was expecting an increase in that yearly rate in 2008.
Crocker presented the commissioners and the Portland city council representatives with a printout of the cost involved of having the Sheriff’s Department patrol in Portland.
The two proposals depended on what amount of a raise the Hatton deputy would receive in the 2008 budget.
If a $300 raise was involved, the Sheriff’s Department would provide patrol services to Portland for $33,025 a year. If a $100 raise was involved, the yearly fee would be $31,525.
“I’ve talked this over with our deputies and we all agree that something can be worked out,” summed up Crocker.

Hillsboro police protection request
The Traill County Sheriff’s Department was in big demand at Tuesday’s meeting, as Kevin Burg, President of the Hillsboro City Commission, also asked for help.
“Our police chief took a sudden leave of thirty to ninety days, and right now we have no coverage,” said Burg. “We are asking for help from the Sheriff’s Department. The need could be shorter than 30 days, but it will be no longer than 90 days.”
Crocker said his department couldn’t guarantee patrol coverage, but that they could respond to calls. The cost for each call would be $150.
Burg was also informed that if deputies would be interested in patrolling Hillsboro on their days off, it would cost $30 an hour.
Burg said he would provide the city commission with the figures and get back to the commissioners.
However, Crocker stated that since the city of Hillsboro needed immediate help in responding to calls or any emergencies, that the Sheriff’s Department was now in charge of those calls. “We’re now on duty,” summed up Crocker.

Theatre purchase
Michael Bishop attended Tuesday’s meeting and was interested in purchasing the old Traill Theatre in Hillsboro.
The structure has been vacant for decades and has decayed to the point of becoming a safety concern, as bricks have fallen from the building and the chimney is in danger of collapsing.
“I am in the process of finding a non-profit organization that would save the theatre and turn it into something functional for the city,” said Bishop. “We would like to make it usable for the youth in the town.”
Bishop said that he was also in the process of having an assessment of the building made.
“If the assessment is feasible, I hope to have a non-profit group set up in time for your next meeting to take it off your hands,” said Bishop.

Antennae request
Representatives of Hunter Equipment were at Tuesday’s commission meeting asking permission to put a six-pound GPS receiver antennae on the county civil defense tower located four miles south and two west of Portland.
Hunter Equipment would pay the county $600 a year for rental of the 50-foot tower, as the installation of their antennae would provide service to the customers of the business.

Dave Sather and Sheriff Crocker, representing the county, said they had no problem with the request, but were concerned if similar requests from other businesses would follow.
“Putting up the antennae isn’t going to hurt anything, but where do you stop?” said Sather. “I don’t want it to become a rental tower.”
Commissioners suggested to the Hunter Equipment representatives that a contract be drawn up from their end and brought back to the next commission meeting for approval or rejection.

In other action
•Commissioners agreed to have a survey completed of the Morgan Township cemetery at a cost of $3,500, and to have the survey completed this fall.
•Sue Johnson and other supporters of Veterans Service Officer Les Ashe, appeared before commissioners asking they approve full-time status for the VSO director.
Johnson presented the commissioners with a petition signed by 140 veterans also encouraging the commission to make the VSO a full-time position.
“We can’t let one veteran fall through the cracks,” said Johnson. “One veteran lost is one too many. This needs to be a full-time position.”
Johnson and the two other representatives spoke highly of Ashe’s work in helping veterans, not only from a financial situation but as being someone veterans can talk and relate to.
After a short discussion, commissioners said they would make a decision of the status of the VSO position at their Oct. 2 meeting.
•Because of the long list of items on the Sept. 18 agenda, commissioners were unable to complete all business that was to be presented.
Therefore, Chairman Peterson called for a special meeting of the commission to take place Tuesday, Sept. 25 at 9 a.m. Among items to be dealt with at the Sept. 25 meeting will be space concerns of the Social Services Department, and discussion on economic development.
•After Tuesday’s special meeting, the next regularly scheduled meeting of the commission will be Tuesday, Oct. 2.