CAPD commission hires two new police officers

By Neal Hogden

The Colby-Abbotsford Police Department is expected to get three new assets to start the new year as two patrol officers and a new squad car have been approved by the Colby Common Council and the Colby-Abbotsford Police commission. The additions are pending approval at the Abbotsford City Council meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 3 but are expected to be approved without issue.

At the police commission’s Dec. 18 meeting, the commission interviewed three candidates for two open patrol positions within the department. After the interviews, the department decided to hire Kaden Goodwin of Edgar and Noemi Fuentes-Ramirez Ana, a Colby High School graduate who had been working for Taylor County. Fuentes-Ramirez Ana brings a much needed ability to speak the Spanish language as the department often utilizes translators or Google Translate for interactions with Spanish-speaking individuals.

The positions were available after the recent retirement of longtime police chief Jason Bauer and subsequent internal promotions of Alex Bowman and James Wagner created a spot and the creation of another School Resource Officer position pulled officer Brandon Nelson off of the patrol crew.

The commission also approved the purchase of a new V8 Dodge Durango squad vehicle for the amount of $44,906. The opportunity to order the vehicle came after the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office decided to upgrade their vehicles and had ordered one more squad than the department needed. The squad was still in production and with delays in ordering vehicles, the best opportunity for a new vehicle in 2024 presented itself in the form of the Taylor County vehicle. Colby Chrysler was holding the vehicle for the CAPD to make sure the department wanted it before offering the vehicle to other departments.

The new squad will allow the department to use a vehicle that has over 160,000 miles as an additional SRO vehicle. The Colby council approved the purchase of the squad vehicle, unanimously.

“The strategy there is to keep the vehicle with 160,000 for the second SRO position,” Schmidt said. “We think that it’s very valid to have a marked police vehicle in the parking lot when he’s there on duty.”

Council member Dan Hederer said the commission would have looked at a different make of vehicle other than Dodge but Ford has halted production of squad vehicles and squad vehicles in general have been hard to come by as of late.

Other police housekeeping items that were approved by the Colby Common Council were: a $1.25/hour raise for police secretary Jessica Weich, Christmas gifts for CAPD employees and the transfer of funds in the amount of $44,906 from the SRO account to the vehicle replacement fund. Weich’s raise is consistent with the average of Colby and Abbotsford’s wage increases for its administrative staff as Abbotsford gave its staff $1/ hour raise and Colby gave its staff a $1.50/hour raise.

During the council meeting, police commission president Todd Schmidt said K-9 officer James Wagner was officially promoted to Bowman’s old position as Lieutenant.

Other business

n The Colby Common Council approved a bid for concrete crushing through Earth Incorporated for the

See COLBY COUNCIL/ Page 4 Colby council

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price of $4.11/ton. n The council also approved the purchase of a few vehicles that had been previously approved by the public works committee. A new aerial lift truck purchase was approved in the amount of $172,005. The expected delivery on the truck will not be until late 2024 at the earliest Public Works Director Harland Higley Jr. said.

The other vehicle that was purchased was a threequarter ton pickup truck in the amount of $48,583 from Colby Chrysler.

n Clerk Connie Gurtner introduced the city’s new deputy clerk/treasurer, Callie Weber. Weber will be working with Gurtner and current deputy clerk Erin Hennes, who will be with the city until the end of January. n The council approved the services of Johnson Block CPAs for the city’s audit of its 2023 books. The cost of the service is $24,000 which is $4,000 more than the year prior. Gurtner said she asked Johnson Block why the price went up so much and was told that the increase in price comes from an increase in fees at the state level.

n Gurtner also said the auditors might not be happy with how much money the city has in its fund balance. She said the balance is at $66,000 but said that number should be at around $500,000 after the city is reimbursed for the Second Street project from the state in the amount of $450,000.

n The council approved changes to the city’s parking ordinance which included:

n West Dolf Street. There shall be no parking on the north side of West Dolf Street from North Second Street to 200 feet west of North Fourth Street between the hours of 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on days when school is in session.

n West Dolf Street. There shall be no parking on the south side of West Dolf Street from North Second Street and extending 350 feet west between the hours of 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on days when school is in session.

n South Second Street. There shall be no parking on the west side of South Second Street starting 285 feet south of the intersection of West Clark Street and South Second Street and extending 220 feet south between the hours of 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on days when school is in session.

n East Graves Street. There shall be no parking on the south side of East Graves Street between South Main Street and East Street.