Law Enforcement Agencies Meet With SPLOST Committee
Monday, October 23rd, 2023
On Thursday, October 19th, the special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST) citizen advisory committee continued hearing local priority projects from representatives of the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) and the City of Dalton Police Department (DPD).
The SPLOST committee consists of residents appointed by board members of the Whitfield County Commissioners, and the council members of the cities of Dalton, Varnell, Tunnel Hill, and Cohutta. The committee’s purpose is to recommend projects to the elected officials that are representative of the community’s goals. If the SPLOST passes, an additional 1% sales tax will be placed on most goods sold in the county to pay for the approved projects.
DPD Chief Cliff Cason presented three priority projects: vehicle replacement, refurbishment of the police services center, and a public safety training center.
The vehicle replacement plan established replacement criteria to meet department requirements to maintain a safe, efficient, and reliable fleet. “Patrol vehicles at 100k miles are often in constant need of repair to the transmission,” said Chief Cason. “This results in a lot of down time and repair costs.” DPD plans to replace 32 cars within the four-year plan. Lastly, DPD plans to seek refurbishment of Dalton Fire Station #2 to serve as the Dalton Public Safety Training Center, in a joint project with the Dalton Fire Department. The new training center would be large enough to house more employees who can complete their required training much faster. Chief Cason’s proposed projects total $4M.
WCSO Captain Clay Pangle presented three priority projects: vehicle replacement, mobile data terminals, and upgrades to the range and training center.
Like the DPD, vehicle replacements are imperative for the county fleet services. “We drive over 1 million miles per year,” said Captain Pangle. WCSO deputies patrol all 290 square miles of the county. This results in quick wear and tear of the patrol vehicles. The last project Captain Pangle presented was improvements to the county range and training center. The range has had over 10 outside agencies, at local, state, and federal level request to complete training at their facility. Law enforcement officials are required to maintain a number of hours per year dedicated to training. Improvements to the range include a new roof, and a functional automated target system. Captain Pangle’s proposed projects total $3M.
WCSO Captain Wesley Lynch presented two priority projects for the Detention Center: HVAC replacement and security hardware replacement.
The Detention Center is a 146,000 square foot facility, open 24/7. Captain Lynch is requesting to replace all 20+ year old units over a 4-year period. “The constant repair of the HVAC units is a reoccurring cost,” said Captain Lynch. “Also, the failures of these aging units, can cause issues
with maintaining safe operations.” Lastly, Captain Lynch requested funds for security door hardware and access maintenance replacement. The sliding metal doors in the detention facility have been in constant use for 20 years and in that time have received normal damage from use. Captain Lynch’s proposed projects total $1M.
The SPLOST committee will meet again on Thursday, October 26th at 6:00 pm at Riverbend Park to hear project proposals from the local municipalities. The committee plans to begin work on its recommendations within the next month. For more information on the SPLOST, please visit: https://www.whitfieldcountyga.com/splost/splost.htm
