GLENVILLE — In 2017, the town of Glenville was awarded a $1.5 million state grant to upgrade its public safety facility. Seven years later, the town has yet to receive a penny as the governor’s office continues to review the funding.
The situation has long frustrated Supervisor Chris Koetzle and Police Chief Stephen Janik, who, in interviews this week, were critical of the wait that they say has delayed long overdue upgrades to the aging facility.
“I think it’s embarrassing to the state of New York that the review process has lasted over seven years for an urgent need,” Koetzle said. “This is, I think, unacceptable.”
The delayed upgrades have threatened to stifle the police department’s efforts in obtaining state accreditation and have created equity issues that have impacted officer morale, according to Janik, who said “the state needs to step up” in distributing the funds.
The grant was secured by state Sen. James Tedisco, a Republican who represented Glenville in the state’s 46th Senate District at the time. Tedisco now resides in Saratoga Springs and currently serves the 44th Senate District following the state’s redistricting process two years ago.
A year after the funding was secured, Republicans lost their majority in the state Senate, which haulted the funding from being advanced to the governor for final approval. The funding, however, has remained a line item languishing in the state’s coffers.
Sen. Neil Breslin, D-Albany, advanced the funding last year, but no action has been taken since.
The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York is tasked with administering the grant, which was awarded as part of the New York Economic Development Capital Program.
A Jan. 4 report on DASNY administered grants released by the agency shows that the funding remains as a line item, but a grant disbursement agreement has yet to be executed.
Jeffrey Gordan, a DASNY spokesperson, said in an email that the Dormitory Authority has finished its review and the grant is awaiting state approval.
But Jason Gough, a spokesperson for the governor’s office, said the grant is “continuing through the review process.” Gough did not answer questions about why the grant has been delayed or those seeking a potential timeframe for when the funds would be released.
Koetzle said the delay is inexcusable and is a matter of public safety.
The funding is intended to enhance the police department’s evidence storage capacity and to construct locker room facilities for the department’s four female officers who currently use a closet to change, according to the supervisor.
Town officials have long pondered what to do with the aging municipal facility at 18 Glenridge Road that houses all town operations, including the town hall, courts and police department.
Koetzle said lawmakers were initially waiting for the funding to be released. The emergence of the pandemic delayed things even further. Last year, the previous Town Board reviewed a number of options on how to replace the current facility, but a final decision on how to proceed was never made.
The topic is expected to be revisited in the near future by the new board that was seated earlier this month, according to Koetzle, who said the town will likely have to make a decision whether the funds are made available or not.
“We just can’t wait anymore,” Koetzle said.
But Janik said the issue extends beyond future planning and has started to chip away at officer morale and threatens to upend the police department’s efforts to obtain state accreditation — a move that would elevate the standards for the department and reduce liability risks moving forward. The department has slowly been working toward becoming an accredited agency for months.
The department must bolster its evidence storage room and construct a larger storage facility that would require the installation of security fencing around the building’s perimeter. The updated facilities are a crucial part of the accreditation process.
But, the lack of proper facilities for the department’s female officers is also a barrier.
Female police officers currently use a 6-by-6-foot room to change, and the department only has one set of showers of its 26 officers, said Janik, who added he can no longer ask female officers to wait for proper facilities.
Janik said the lack of facilities is a matter of equity and must be addressed.
“It’s unfair, it’s not right, and I think it needs to be addressed sooner than later,” the chief said. “For me, I’ve made a lot of assertions to those members of the department that it will be addressed. It’s time.”