The Wayland City Council Monday night was treated to a “year in review” for Wayland Area Ambulance Services (WAEMS) and the local police department.
Councilman Joe Kramer, himself an emergency medical technician, told his colleagues that the WAEMS broke record in number of calls for 2019, with a total of 4,452.
“That’s more than 12 calls a day,” he said. “They are a busy bunch of people.”
City Police Chief Mark Garnsey, who was hired last winter, presented a review of the activities and challenges for Wayland officers. He first said he was happy to report on the return to the department of officer Jon Schaefer.
Schaefer earned special praise from Allegan County Sheriff Frank Baker for his role, along with Gun Lake Tribal officers and Allegan County Sheriff’s deputies in helping to save one life the the fatal wrong-way traffic accident a couple of years ago on U.S.-131. Schaefer left the local department to work for the Tribe.
Garnsey said of the past year the local officers had come up with some excellent police work.
“There’s some good work being done here,” the chief said. “We at the department believe that the definition of community policing is community first.”
In other business, the City Council:
• Learned from City Manager Josh Eggleston that despite the poor public turnout for last month’s forum on marijuana, he would like to see presentations for and against allowing dispensaries.
“I think we owe it to our constituents to continue to work on this issue,” he said.
• Noted the next council meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 21, instead of Monday, Jan. 20, which will be Martin Luther King Day.
