Council OKs added SRO at schools, hires OHM

by Judy Stringer

Sept. 20 city council meeting

Hudson City Council passed a resolution that will allow the city to contract one of its police officers to the Hudson City School District as an additional School Resource Officer, should district administrators choose to do so.

Currently, the Hudson Police Department provides two specially trained SROs at no cost to the district. One officer is assigned to the high school, and the other is stationed primarily at the middle school but also covers elementary buildings.

If a third is added, Hudson Police Chief Perry Tabak told council during a Sept. 13 work session, it would be at the expense of the school district. Under Tabak’s proposal, the schools would pay $100,000 annually for three years to cover salary and benefits of an additional uniformed SRO.

“[The school district] is really in the exploratory phase right now, but if they decide to move forward, I want council to be aware of some of the conversations,” he said.

Tabek added that the district’s safety committee has also discussed hiring off-duty officers, rather than a full-time SRO, but he had recommended the dedicated SRO because of the training and the ability to foster relationships with students and staff. 

Council also passed a resolution to hire OHM Advisors to help prepare a 2023 comprehensive plan update. Council member Nicole Kowalski said some constituents had expressed concern over OHM’s possible involvement with a proposal to put a Sheetz gas station at the site of the former Norwood Inn in Boston Heights. She and council president Chris Foster, however, said they had investigated the matter and determined that although OHM is contracted by Boston Heights, it is not directly involved with the Sheetz proposal. Both said they were comfortable moving forward with the consultants.

In other meeting news, council discussed a legislative proposal – brought forth by council member Beth Bigham – that would require city administration to provide council with a monthly report of all city expenditures, including those that fall under $25,000 and do not require council approval.  

There were some concerns about how much of the city staff’s time such additional reporting would require, but Interim City Manager Tom Sheridan and Finance Director Jeff Knoblauch ultimately concurred it would not be a significant resource commitment. ∞