Advertisement “I would like to see, in the confines of this contract, some use of the (police) liaison officer in some fashion to help at this intersection while they are reporting to us,” board President Cheryl Hancock said. “We’ve gotten pushback from the village on this. It could provide help with this issue.”
Hancock went on to say they met with the police last year “and they didn’t respond favorably.”
When asked by board members about the department’s concerns, Hancock said “I think the police officers don’t feel safe directing traffic there. And I thought, hmm, that’s interesting. If they don’t feel safe certainly our kids don’t. There certainly could be a presence there.”
Police Chief Mike McHugh said having one officer there is very risky for the police. “It’s such a wide intersection there,” he said. “It takes three officers to hold the traffic. (One officer) can’t physically cover all four lanes safely plus watch cross-traffic. ... It’s a very congested area for 30 minutes twice a day. It’s like a big factory letting everyone out at 4 p.m.”
McHugh said the department gives it as much attention as possible with radar set up and writing tickets, but it doesn’t have the resources to send three or more officers every afternoon to the intersection.
Retiring Principal Bernie Ferry said there have been multiple attempts to remedy the situation. Three years ago the school district took a petition signed by parents and students to the county requesting something be done to increase safety at the intersection.
“That petition enabled us to get funding for a feasibility study for stop lights,” Ferry said. “We did not meet any of the criteria for installing a stop light there. It’s a matter of volume.”
Last year, the district installed flashing warning lights and, according to Ferry, that has reduced the number of incidents. “Having flashing lights helped,” he said. “It has reduced the numbers of citations for speeding and the number of minor accidents of our students.”
Ferry said the school safety officer and the police liaison officer are visible in the parking lots and near the intersection, trying to be proactive.
In addition to the lack of resources by the police and school district to cover the intersection, there are jurisdictional problems. The intersection is split between the village and the town of Holland. Therefore, the sheriff’s department has some jurisdiction. Furthermore, it is a county highway, so any signaling, lane changes or any other control features have to be approved by the county.
Lunch talk
There might be no immediate ways school officials can take a bite out of accidents, but students expressed interest in taking a bite into pasta. Student Austin Mahlum spoke to the board about the food options, requesting that there be more pasta products.
“Pasta was once a big thing and now it’s slipping off the menu,” he said. “I believe students should have more pasta. Carb foods (are needed), especially for sports and nourishment. I don’t think we need all this chicken.”
His request came before Cindy Thesing presented her final report as food service director. She is leaving the district and introduced Mike Gasper as the new director.
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