(Photo Source: Village of Homer website).
The town of Homer officials and the village police department are currently having preliminary discussions about the possibility of the police department relocating to the town hall on North Main Street, according to town supervisor Fred Forbes.
The village police department used to call town hall its home base up until the mid-1980s. The department moved to the former village recreation building on South Main Street and stayed there until the early 2000s, according to village police chief Bob Pitman.
Since then, the department has been housed at a former train station on James Street in the village. Pitman, who’s been the village police chief since 2016, said the building where the department is currently located is leased out to a third-party company and not owned by the village.
“I’d rather have a police car on Main Street instead of James Street,” Forbes said.
The town officials have their sights set on welcoming the village police department to the current hub of the senior center, which is in the basement of the town hall.
Talks for a possible relocation began when Cortland County pulled funding from senior centers across the county, Forbes said.
“From what I’ve gathered of it, there will be no more senior center (only)” Forbes said. He added there will still be a senior club, and the possibility of the club sharing the space with the police department is also in consideration.
“I believe if the basement is re-done properly, there will be room for the police department, and possibly the seniors,” Forbes added.
Forbes noted a police presence in the town hall would “make the village and town offices, the court and everyone else safer.”
“It would be good to be over on Main Street,” Pitman said. “I look forward to a (potential) move. It’d be nice because we’re (currently) all under one building. It’d (also) be more easily located to visitors in the village, as well as the residents.”
Pitman noted the current police department building “works for our needs,” but added that the department is “starting to slowly outgrow it.”
“The biggest issue is the space and setup,” he said.
Pitman also mentioned the department is working with the town and an outside architectural firm to design a police department in the basement of the town hall. He added that the town would “make it a little more practical for us.”
Along with extra space, Pitman’s ideal police department would include an evidence room, an interview room, more office space and an office for records. Forbes noted he’d like a door connected to the courtroom and the police department.
“There’s a lot of pluses to this if it’s done right,” Forbes said.
Forbes said there are no solid plans or a contract in place with the village police department as of right now, but the plan is to continue to discuss the idea of a relocation through a committee.
“We’d have two people from the town and two from the village, along with Chief Pitman,” he added. “We look forward to seeing how it could develop.”
