Scott Williams, swilliams@wolfrivermedia.com
Shawano County Board members agreed Wednesday to spend $1 million to construct a new facility to store evidence for the sheriff’s department and perhaps other police agencies.
The action came at the urging of Sheriff Adam Bieber and others from law enforcement to end years of debate and move forward with construction.
County officials have known for more than a decade that current options for evidence storage were inadequate, but they had been unable to agree on plans for building a better facility.
After hearing from Bieber and others, members of the county board said they were tired of inaction and were ready to get building.
“We know we need it,” Supervisor Gene Hoppe implored his colleagues. “Let’s get this thing done.”
Despite some lingering reservations about the cost, the board voted unanimously to invest $1 million to build a new 7,200-square-foot storage building near the sheriff’s department.
Representatives of the city of Shawano and the Stockbridge-Munsee Community joined Bieber in urging support for the project, telling the board that both the city and the tribe might contribute to the construction cost and become partners.
Shawano Interim Police Chief Dan Mauel said he would urge city leaders to support the partnership.
“It’s a good deal for us,” Mauel said. “It’s fair and it’s equitable.”
Stockbridge-Munsee Tribal President Shannon Holsey agreed and said her tribe is anxious to partner with its neighbors in Shawano County.
“We understand that in order to support the community, you also must support the infrastructure,” she said.
Both the city and the tribe have their own police departments with evidence storage needs that could be served by the county’s new facility. Although details were not disclosed of the potential partnership being negotiated, county officials said the city and the tribe both are considering making lump-sum contributions to the construction in exchange for space inside the new facility.
Tentative financing plans for the county include $750,000 from cash reserves, $175,000 from the county’s general fund next year and $150,000 from the county’s capital improvement fund next year.
Evidence storage needs have been a recurring issue for the county since at least 2005, when a consultant found that existing facilities were inadequate. With county leaders unable to agree on a solution, the sheriff’s department has been renting storage space at a cost of about $20,000 a year.
Officials decided to move ahead with building a new facility because they thought making such an investment was more sensible than renting space year after year.
Some board members Wednesday expressed concern about the cost and why the evidence storage building became a higher priority than other spending needs.
“I don’t know that we need a million-dollar shed,” Supervisor Deb Noffke said.
Other board members, however, urged support for the proposal, suggesting that the city and the tribe would be more likely to sign on as partners if the county demonstrates commitment.
“It’s up to us,” board Chairman Jerry Erdmann said, “to prove that we are truly going to do this.”