Pierceton Council Considering Police Partnership With Pierceton Woods Academy

December 9, 2024 at 8:32 p.m.
Abe Hepler, vice president of residential services at Pierceton Woods Academy, speaks to Pierceton Town Council during a meeting Monday. Photo by Liz Adkins, InkFreeNews
Abe Hepler, vice president of residential services at Pierceton Woods Academy, speaks to Pierceton Town Council during a meeting Monday. Photo by Liz Adkins, InkFreeNews

By Liz Adkins, InkFreeNews

PIERCETON — Pierceton Town Council members said Monday they're willing to consider a police partnership with Pierceton Woods Academy.
Abe Hepler, PWA's vice president of residential services, brought the proposal before the council. He said PWA would like to hire two full-time officers for the town of Pierceton.
"We would cover their salaries, the cost of their benefits, all of the expense of that officer for the community, as well as provide a complete town vehicle for them," said Hepler. "It would be our hope to utilize those officers sort of like a school resource officer, to have them stationed on our campus for their shifts. From our perspective, we think there would be a lot of benefit by having full-time officers on campus at Pierceton Woods."
Hepler said the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Office was also willing to provide a couple officers as SROs if the town did not want to entertain PWA's proposal. He noted issues over the summer with PWA residents, which led to PWA having KCSO officers on their campus 24/7 for almost a month.
"After that, we rolled it to a schedule where (KCSO officers) are on campus several days a week for a handful of shifts," said Hepler. "That had a remarkable impact on youth behavior."
Council President Glenn Hall said he was willing to have a police partnership with PWA, but expressed concern with possible difficulties in finding officers to hire. Hepler noted he was confident in a long-term commitment for PWA paying for officer coverage.
Council and Hepler said they will work with their attorneys on contract matters.
In other business, Town Marshal Jim Bumbaugh brought up the First and Market streets intersection to council.
"We realize that intersection has been an issue for years," said Bumbaugh. "With an increase in traffic, which is not going to lessen, that's just going to continue to be an issue. We haven't had a significant number of accidents there, but there's close calls there every day. We understand there's a problem there, and I think we're obligated to see what we can to do to reduce the likelihood of incidents at that intersection."
Council said they would get in contact with the Indiana Department of Transportation to potentially see about making the intersection a four-way stop.
Town Superintendent Casey Boggs also reminded the community that leaf pickup only occurs in the fall, not the spring. Employees are still picking up leaves, but they must be bagged.
Residents with any sticks, leaves, and lawn refuse can also take them to the wastewater plant between Dollar General and the factory. There's a burn pile located near the plant.
The council also:
• Asked anyone interested in serving a four-year term on the Pierceton Park Board to submit a letter of interest to Clerk-Treasurer Myra Mast by 4:30 p.m. Dec. 27. Cindy Kreger's term is ending.
• Reminded the community to utilize REACH Alert for notifications, as some residents are experiencing issues with not receiving utility bills via mail.
• Said the Pierceton Chamber of Commerce is hosting a Christmas decoration contest for both residents and businesses. Winners will receive $100 in Chamber bucks to be spent at town businesses. Entry forms are due Dec. 15, with judging taking place the week of Dec. 16.
Council will have a special year-end meeting at 4:30 p.m. Dec. 27. Their next regular meeting is at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 13.

PIERCETON — Pierceton Town Council members said Monday they're willing to consider a police partnership with Pierceton Woods Academy.
Abe Hepler, PWA's vice president of residential services, brought the proposal before the council. He said PWA would like to hire two full-time officers for the town of Pierceton.
"We would cover their salaries, the cost of their benefits, all of the expense of that officer for the community, as well as provide a complete town vehicle for them," said Hepler. "It would be our hope to utilize those officers sort of like a school resource officer, to have them stationed on our campus for their shifts. From our perspective, we think there would be a lot of benefit by having full-time officers on campus at Pierceton Woods."
Hepler said the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Office was also willing to provide a couple officers as SROs if the town did not want to entertain PWA's proposal. He noted issues over the summer with PWA residents, which led to PWA having KCSO officers on their campus 24/7 for almost a month.
"After that, we rolled it to a schedule where (KCSO officers) are on campus several days a week for a handful of shifts," said Hepler. "That had a remarkable impact on youth behavior."
Council President Glenn Hall said he was willing to have a police partnership with PWA, but expressed concern with possible difficulties in finding officers to hire. Hepler noted he was confident in a long-term commitment for PWA paying for officer coverage.
Council and Hepler said they will work with their attorneys on contract matters.
In other business, Town Marshal Jim Bumbaugh brought up the First and Market streets intersection to council.
"We realize that intersection has been an issue for years," said Bumbaugh. "With an increase in traffic, which is not going to lessen, that's just going to continue to be an issue. We haven't had a significant number of accidents there, but there's close calls there every day. We understand there's a problem there, and I think we're obligated to see what we can to do to reduce the likelihood of incidents at that intersection."
Council said they would get in contact with the Indiana Department of Transportation to potentially see about making the intersection a four-way stop.
Town Superintendent Casey Boggs also reminded the community that leaf pickup only occurs in the fall, not the spring. Employees are still picking up leaves, but they must be bagged.
Residents with any sticks, leaves, and lawn refuse can also take them to the wastewater plant between Dollar General and the factory. There's a burn pile located near the plant.
The council also:
• Asked anyone interested in serving a four-year term on the Pierceton Park Board to submit a letter of interest to Clerk-Treasurer Myra Mast by 4:30 p.m. Dec. 27. Cindy Kreger's term is ending.
• Reminded the community to utilize REACH Alert for notifications, as some residents are experiencing issues with not receiving utility bills via mail.
• Said the Pierceton Chamber of Commerce is hosting a Christmas decoration contest for both residents and businesses. Winners will receive $100 in Chamber bucks to be spent at town businesses. Entry forms are due Dec. 15, with judging taking place the week of Dec. 16.
Council will have a special year-end meeting at 4:30 p.m. Dec. 27. Their next regular meeting is at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 13.

Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092

e-Edition


e-edition

Sign up


for our email newsletters

Weekly Top Stories

Sign up to get our top stories delivered to your inbox every Sunday

Daily Updates & Breaking News Alerts

Sign up to get our daily updates and breaking news alerts delivered to your inbox daily

Latest Stories


Warsaw Baseball Drops Opener To St. Joseph 9-7
Opening up the regular season at home against St. Joseph, the Warsaw baseball team found itself behind the eight ball early on, as the visitors opened up the game with six runs in the top of the first. But the Tigers didn’t give up, getting within one late before eventually falling 9-7.

Fire Territory Gets Rare Opportunity To Train On Real Homes
Firefighters do a lot of training monthly, but seldom do they actually get to train in a real home.

Rock And Country Concerts In Warsaw Announced
The country concert this summer at Warsaw’s Central Park will be offering two headlining acts instead of just one, while the rock concert may have fans of Guns N’ Roses stoked.

Northwest Charitable Foundation Donates $2,500 To KCCF
Northwest Charitable Foundation, a charity affiliated with Northwest Bank, recently presented the Kosciusko County Community Foundation with a donation for $2,500 for Community Funds.

Former Winona Lake Resident Appears On ‘Jeopardy!’
A former Winona Lake and current Kansas City, Mo., resident is appearing on “Jeopardy!” this week.