Assembly members discuss using municipal land for staff housing to ease police and fire shortages

The assembly turned to a broader staffing and housing discussion, with the Chair saying the municipality needs to act quickly to recruit and retain police and fire personnel for the coming busy season.

The Chair proposed placing "a couple townhouses" on the baseball field next to the school to provide housing for recruits and on-call staff, arguing the location would be within a short response time to central town. He said the proposal was intended to speed delivery of housing rather than to single out one permanent site.

The police chief warned of an upcoming busy summer and noted limited on-shift coverage; he said the department currently relies on two Community Service Officers to relieve some pressure and that several potential recruits have expressed interest but are reluctant to relocate without available housing. The police chief described pay as "pretty comparable to all of Southeast" but emphasized that quality-of-life and housing for families are major recruitment considerations.

Assembly members discussed multiple municipal parcels as potential housing sites, including the baseball fields and vacant public-works land, but also noted contamination concerns on some properties that would require remediation before construction. One assembly member urged the city to present several options and begin planning and budgeting now, since next year’s municipal budget already looked constrained.

Speakers also described internal pipelines: the chief said both CSOs have expressed interest in becoming officers and that a few out-of-town applicants are prepared to move if housing is available. No formal decisions were made; members agreed to advance the idea of employee housing, compile multiple site options and return with cost estimates and possible funding paths on a future agenda.