Hurley police win DOT prize

By TOM LAVENTURE

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HURLEY, Wis. — By volunteering in a traffic safety exercise the city of Hurley Police Department has received a $4,000 award, according to Chief Chris Colassaco, at the city council’s Police, Fire and Licensing Committee meeting Wednesday.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation conducted a Click It or Ticket safety belt compliance check over Memorial Day weekend, he said. The effort wasn’t funded and Hurley participated on its own initiative, he said.

“We were fortunate in that they put together a pool for the volunteering agencies and they drew our name,” Colassaco said. “It was their way of giving back.”

The $4,000 must be spent on department items related to traffic safety, he said. No decision has been made yet and the department will inform the committee when the funds are used, he said.

A new patrol officer will be joining the Hurley Police Department on Oct. 12, Colassaco said.

The cadet is due to graduate from the police academy at Nicolet Area Technical College in Rhinelander on Oct. 11, he said. He has participated in weekend ride-along shifts for some time, he said.

“He has passed his phase three testing and has one basic competent left,” Colassaco said. “I foresee no issues and expect to see him in a patrol car next Saturday.”

The new officer will bring the department to full strength with seven officers. He will be introduced at the city council meeting Tuesday.

Colassaco said that he is waiving the department’s policy on no officers wearing beards as part of a charity fundraiser. Officers who wish to make a monthly donation to a charity pool to be named later, may wear a beard from September through March 2020, he said.

The interest is driven by the number of hunters who are in the department, Colassaco said. The fall hunting season is here and it is quite the incentive to support a charity.

“It’s all for a good purpose and a good cause,” Colassaco said. “It’s a little way to give back to the community.”

The department is working with members of the city public works department regarding the police department roof that is leaking and lacking insulation. The rooms are getting cold with winter coming and workers plan to have insulation installed along with a plastic ceiling and lighting while they patch up the roof, he said.

Colassaco said the city should move forward in the next step in the process of determining what to do with the status of the Copper Street Pub at 113 2nd Ave. S. The bar has been closed for one-and-a-half-years and attempts to reach the owner have failed, he said.

“The owners applied for a license last year but it was not paid and this year they are not doing anything,” Colassaco said. I have reached out to them and called on two occasion and they have not got back to me in reference to the bar,”

In other business, the committee approved 3-0 to recommend that the Hurley City Council approve a combination Class B beer and liquor license for Topside Pub and Grill at 414 Silver Street. The committee also recommended approval to two bartender license applications.