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County executive, public advocate outline regional training facility plan; residents seek greater local representation
Summary
County officials introduced an intergovernmental agreement (Bill 5403) to accept a state grant for a regional law enforcement training facility covering four counties. A public advocate and council members raised concerns about representation, location and potential duplication with local projects. The bill was introduced; no final vote occurred.
County officials presented an intergovernmental agreement to accept a state grant and create a regional law-enforcement training facility serving multiple counties, while a public advocate and council members questioned representation and potential duplication with local efforts.
County Executive Kelly (identified in the meeting as the executive) described the proposed facility as the product of several years of work with the executives of neighboring counties and said officials had been negotiating details and the composition of a governing commission. “If regionalism was easy, everybody would be doing it,” Kelly told the council, emphasizing the challenge of getting four county executives to agree on the plan.
Arnie C. Dinoff, identifying himself as County Public Advocate during the public-comment period, urged more intergovernmental cooperation and questioned the current distribution of grant funds and board representation. Dinoff said O'Fallon has spent about $6,000,000 on a Phase 1 law enforcement training center and reported that O'Fallon was rejected for a $4,000,000 state grant this year and for $7,000,000 last year; he noted $50,000,000 had been awarded to St. Louis County. Dinoff recommended exploring shared arrangements rather than duplicating nearby facilities and said Saint Charles County should seek greater representation on the planned regional commission.
The draft agreement before the council (Bill 5403) would authorize an intergovernmental joint cooperation and development assistance agreement to accept a state grant to construct the facility. The proposed commission would have eight commissioners; Dinoff and some council members questioned whether two seats for Saint Charles County provided fair representation given local law enforcement numbers. Kelly said the current seat allocation was negotiated to require cooperation among counties and to prevent one county from making unilateral decisions.
Council discussion touched on location and the potential for separate local facilities to coexist. Kelly said the agreed location aims to be near the demographic center of the participating counties, near Interstate 64 and Route 141, and that property searches would follow the approval of the agreement. A council member said he preferred the facility be located in Saint Charles County or coordinated with O'Fallon and the City of St. Charles to avoid duplication.
No final vote was taken; the bill was introduced for future consideration and staff offered to meet individually with council members to answer detailed questions before the next meeting.
Why this matters: A regional training facility would affect law enforcement training capacity, local budgets and governance. Allocation of grant funds, board representation and location determine who benefits and how decisions are made.
Next steps: Bill 5403 was introduced. The county will continue outreach with council members and may return with more detailed agreements, property options and a proposed governance structure for vote at a later meeting.
