Let's make most of closing

At the risk of swimming upstream from what seems to be some strong opinion and valid arguments about the loss of our state police post, I want to consider if there isn’t the possibility of a silver lining in this.

First, let me say that I agree with everyone that the way this was handled was, to say the least, not very well done. I simply can’t imagine the state not letting our state representative and state senator know in advance, or even more, the mayor of the town where it is located.  To let elected officials be blind-sided like that is just unimaginable to me. It was political rudeness.

And then, for the state to say they have not done a study to show the estimated cost savings as a justification means it was done placing perceived logistics efficiency as the sole reason.

Now, having said how poorly it was handled, it is my opinion that because the decision was done the way it was, it is a done deal. The state wants no opportunity for anyone to try to change its mind. And so, let me look into my crystal ball and see if we can turn a lemon into lemonade.

Since the 1930s when the facility was built, it and the old INDOT facility beside it have occupied a prime piece of commercial real estate that generated no property taxes to benefit the county. In the 1930s, both the state police post and the old INDOT complex were no doubt on the edge of town and getting to U.S. 31, the main north-south road, was quick. But now, they take up several acres of prime commercial opportunity.

There is no denying that it looks good to have it in town, and that there should be some benefit by its presence reducing some crime.  But I wonder if it were gone, if in just a very short time we wouldn’t be enjoying new retail stores, having our family or friends employed there and letting those new businesses generate tax dollars to pay city and county police officers from already thin municipal and county budgets.

Since this seems to be a done deal, we ought to seize the opportunity to start demanding, as The Tribune editorialized earlier, that the state help us by cleaning up both the state police and old INDOT site so we can see if they can, as soon as humanly possible, make their way into the hands of private sector investors to build stores and create employment.  One could make the argument, as some have, that the highest and best use of the property has been for several years, and now must certainly be, commercial.

We should not allow the state to mothball the soon to be closed state police post as long as they have the old INDOT facility. The state was in a hurry to close it, so let them be in a hurry to clean it up and turn it over to productive use. And those same elected officials who got slighted with notice should be firm and quick in their common and consistent demand that this happen.

The state says that we won’t lose any troopers from the county, they’ll just be going somewhere else when they need to go to their post. The sheriff’s office and all the county’s police chiefs have said that the troopers can come by their offices if they need a quick place to do some paperwork.  I have full confidence that the public safety of my home and neighbors will not notice the difference of the building being gone.

If it is a done deal, and if the state is serious about saving money, maybe they’d be willing to help us make some at the same time. Help us develop what to them is now excess property, clean both properties up quickly and create new commercial locations for jobs and county taxes.

We’d be happy to do an economic impact study to show the benefits.
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Bill Bailey is president of Greater Seymour Chamber of Commerce. He writes a monthly column for The Tribune.