Recently, Milford City Council approved two requests from Police Chief Cecilia Ashe for purchases related to the police department. The first was for parking lot lighting which was included in the Capital Improvements Projects (CIP) for this year’s budget.
“So, what this will do is improve lighting in front of the police department,” Ashe said. “I think when they designed the building, they had an artist not contemplating it was a public safety building. People want to see the lights are on and know that we’re there. This was just a suggestion made by several council members to just have a more welcoming, warm feel to the police department rather than the dark.”
The estimate to install four exterior light packs with battery packs by FILEC Electrical Services was $8,500.
“That parking lot is used for several different things, right?” Councilwoman Katrina Wilson asked. “Drop offs and all the like? I am 100 percent in agreement that it needs more light.”
The motion and estimate were approved by a vote of seven to zero as Councilwoman Madula Kalesis was not in attendance.
The second request was for a John Deere Plow and salt spreader for winter weather management at the police station.
“This was an item before council for approval in the capital improvement budget,” Ashe said. “We had requested approximately $57,000 with the suggestion from Councilman James that we use a current John Deere vehicle that we have. We did research and were able to locate a company and equipment that will install the plow and salt spreader on the existing equipment we have versus ordering new equipment. It is a cost savings of approximately $50,000.”
The estimate from Taylor and Messick was $7,600 for the plow and spreader.
“I guess now that we can see the parking lot, we better plow it,” Mayor Todd Culotta joked.
The request was approved with a vote of seven to zero due to Kalesis’ absence.
