City considers bloodhound donation for police use

The Medford Police Department could soon get a fourlegged officer in its ranks.

At Monday’s committee of the whole meeting, Medford police chief Chad Liske addressed council members and requested that they approve the addition of a tracking dog to the department after a family contacted them offering to donate a bloodhound puppy.

The Medford Police Department has been working on a K9 program, but donations are slow to come in according to Liske. He reported that they budget for a dog every year and the money is available for a handler, but the only person interested does not meet guidelines as the individual resides in Lincoln County, meaning Liske would be responsible for the animal himself.

Liske stated that the department would train the dog for tracking services in-house rather than sending it out for training, which would save the City money. Liske was previously a part of the K9 program through Taylor County and is familiar with the training of dogs for police activity. If approved, Liske hopes to use the bloodhound to assist with tracking lost or missing persons.

“It’s the friendly dog,” Liske said of bloodhounds. “This would not take the place of a future dog, we’re not taking that away from another officer,” he added.

He anticipated that the care and maintenance of the dog would run the City less than $1,000 each year with one committee member stating the fund could be increased the following year to avoid continually chipping away at the money available for another dog. The committee voted unanimously to send the decision to Common Council.

In other business, committee members: Reviewed building permits through the month of August, which had a construction value of $3,252,018 for all 19 permits issued during the month. To date, 92 permits have been issued with a construction value of $8,850,552. This includes three new mobile homes, five single-family dwellings, four duplexes, a new plumbing shop and the new VFW post. “As you can see there’s still a lot of construction in town, which is good,” said committee member Dave J. Brandner.

Voted to send to council establishing a non-lapsing account for the Music in the Park fund. Starting with the 2025 budget, money was allocated for the fund with 2% of the hotel/motel room tax money.

Discussed the 2026-2033 capital project schedule which will see the replacement of sewer and water along the Jaycee ball diamonds and parking lot, the drilling of a water main under the river at the intersection of Perkins St. and S. Wisconsin Ave., an upgrade of the water main along 64 east of 13, and the resurfacing of Whelen Ave., all scheduled in 2026. The committee voted to send the capital project schedule to Common Council.

Voted to send to council an engineering contract created by Ayres Associates for the capital improvements. Replacement of the water and sewer main along Billings Ave., from the lift station on Allman St. to the south on Billings Ave., will come at a cost not-to-exceed $45,500. Money from the water and sewer utility budget has been allocated for this project. In addition, replacing the water main under the river at Perkins St. and behind the wastewater treatment plant will come at a cost not-to-exceed $33,000. Money for this project has been allocated in the water utility budget. Prior to the committee of the whole portion of the meeting, council members held their regular meeting where they set trick-or-treat directly after the Harvest Days parade on Sunday, October 26, lasting until 6 p.m. The council discussed creating a resolution next year that would establish the last Sunday in October as the city’s trick-or-treat date as The Chamber historically hosts the parade on the same day every year.

In other business, council members approved a resolution authorizing the submission of an application of a grant for the shared-ride taxi service, as well as a resolution establishing the fix-it grant fund non-lapsing account.