Keene Equinox

Issue date: 10/9/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Carter Vanderhoof KPD officer Benjamin Nugent takes a call Thursday, Oct. 2.

Keene State College and city officials are in the process of negotiating a municipal services fee for the college in order to pay for Keene fire and police departments. "There are things that need to be made to the city when the presence of the college has a financial impact on city services," said Andrew Robinson, vice president for Student Affairs. At last week's Student Assembly meeting, President Helen Giles-Gee said 20 percent of the calls KPD receives involve college students. With an obvious impact on services, the city has called on the college to help cover a portion of the bills. City Manager John MacLean declined to comment on the status of the negotiations, stating both sides agreed not to speak until the final decisions were complete. Giles-Gee and Jay Kahn, vice president for Finance and Planning, are working together to ensure the college pays what it should. "A year or so ago, the city was asking about ambulance services and when we did an analysis it turned out that there really wasn't much cost to the city because most of the times, if the student went by ambulance to the hospital their insurance would pay for it," Robinson said. "Jay Kahn and President Giles-Gee are working with the city to really take a good, close look at these kinds of things." Some students expressed concern for rising tuition and a decrease in funding for student clubs and activities if a municipal service fee was instated. "I'm assuming this would come out of our tuition, which isn't a good thing," said junior Brad Haimowitz. KSC is trying to ensure tuition and the fee will not affect student activities. "I think part of the point the president was trying to make was: if some of these costs are related directly for student behavior, then the students responsible for that behavior should be the ones paying the bill," Robinson said. "There's already a charge for the referred learning program, which is the alcohol referral program," he said. "It may be appropriate to increase the costs of that program or to increase the costs of the marijuana program." According to Robinson, the majority of KSC's students should not have to pay for the fees, since most don't get into any trouble. In addition to this, KSC is looking into hiring a police prosecutor for the college. Currently, KPD prosecutor Sergeant Elizer Rivera, handles all cases for the city and college. These cases can reach up to 1,700 a year. If KSC hired a police prosecutor for cases involving its students, that number would decrease. "I think the idea of a police prosecutor is a good idea," said Haimowitz. "It would give KSC someone to give legal advice to the college." Some students agree with the city, saying the college should contribute for the city services provided. "I think it makes sense, especially with the fact that 20 percent of KPD's calls involve students," said senior Sarah Forler. "Half the time the calls are probably false alarms too, which comes out of their dime." Surrounding colleges such as Plymouth State University and the University of New Hampshire pay municipal services fees to Plymouth and Durham, respectively. In Plymouth, the university had a significant impact on the fire department. "It's my understanding that in Plymouth the town actually had to purchase fire equipment to get to the high buildings, which were higher than the town buildings," said Robinson. "So they had a good rationale for saying, 'if you want us to provide fire services, we need for you to help us pay for them'," he said. The city of Keene is also looking into code enforcements and who should pay if they are violated. "These code enforcements would be enforced for students living off-campus," Robinson said. "If there is a violation of noise ordinances, the student might be fined directly by the city of Keene. If it's housing code enforcement, the landlord can be fined by the city of Keene," Robinson said. "The landlord has to keep safe property and it wouldn't necessarily be the students' fault if the house is in violation of safety ordinances." At the moment, both parties are working to come to an agreement, but nothing has been finalized. According to Robinson, the city is dealing with the situation realistically. "There are some things that are individual students' fault and there are some things the landlords should be responsible for. I don't know the exact time table on it, but I wouldn't be surprised if we came to an agreement that established some reasonable payment for the college soon."

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