KENT — Prominent among the requests considered at the first of this budget season’s workshops to develop the town’s 2023-24 proposed budget is a renewal of a request for a second state trooper to serve the town’s needs. The Board of Selectmen considered the request at a workshop meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 8, held on Zoom.
Initiating the discussion was a letter received from former state trooper Andy Ocif who has lived in Kent since 1969 and served as the resident state trooper from 1968 to 1975. Ocif participated in the selectmen’s meeting to emphasize the need for an additional trooper.
“Kent is no longer a small community,” Ocif said, citing continuing problems of seasonal recreational visitors crowding at popular locations such as Bulls Bridge and Kent Falls, where congestion and lack of parking sometimes creates hazards for visitors
First Selectman Jean Speck said that the selectmen need to decide whether to add the request as a line item in next year’s budget.
Recognizing that it is a continuing subject, Selectman Glenn Sanchez pointed out that a town meeting vote on a proposal for a School Resource Officer who would serve part of the calendar year as a second trooper was resoundingly defeated by voters, 3 to 1. Based on that vote and other anticipated budget pressures, he said that he could not support the request.
Selectman Rufus de Rham agreed with Sanchez and did not see how the $200,000 projected cost for a trooper could be added for the coming year.
“Those who came out and spoke, voted, and said ‘no’,” de Rham said.
“I wish there could be a middle road,” de Rham added, raising a possibility of sharing a trooper with another town.
“We have been talking about this for four years,” Speck recalled. “We are standing on a cliff,” she said, referring to public safety, adding that the consequences are substantial, particularly considering increases in numbers of seasonal visitors.
“We have an obligation to protect and provide for public safety,” Speck said. “It’s time for us to step up to this plate.”
If the town had a second trooper, she suggested, the town would be able to assign the trooper at times to Kent Center School.
Continuing to seek a middle ground, de Rham asked for more concrete data, such as the likely costs, statistics on the numbers of complaints and specifics on stress point locations and situations.
Additional budget workshop discussions are planned for Feb. 15, 22 and March 1, with the selectmen scheduled to present their proposed budget to the Board of Finance on March 22.
Cella’s paintings are tucked in almost every available space thoughout Little Store Antiques. L. Tomaino
