Cameras found in ambulance barn

After an executive session at the regularly scheduled Town Council meeting Tuesday night, Mayor Dale Davis dropped a bombshell that there were hidden cameras found in the Ambulance Barn by the current ambulance crew.

“They found hidden cameras that were positioned in the exit signs at the ambulance facility. There were four cameras hidden; three in exit signs and one in a heat duct in the front that used to be an office and now is a bedroom. At this time it is under investigation from the Sheriff’s Department and the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) has been notified, because this has been an invasion of privacy down there especially for the new guys that have been in there,” Davis said.

Crew members that were present at the meeting expressed their feeling about the cameras, and stated they are just a group of people that got stuck in the middle of all of this, but they live there, sleep there, are there 24/7, and don’t expect to have cameras on them at work.

Davis said they don’t know how long those cameras have been there.

“They were hidden well, in the exit signs in the arrow there was a little hole drilled in and on the backside the camera was glued to it. The camera was about one inch squared and ¾ inch deep with a lens going through the opening. We were told by one IT guy that they would not work from an analog to a digital receiver, and found the location where that receiver had been. Whoever put that in was not a very good technician; he was not a very good craftsman, but it was above the ceiling in the room that was always considered high security,” Mayor Davis said.

Town Clerk/Treasurer Summer Fellows said hidden cameras are not lawfu,l and no purchase orders can be found for these extra cameras that were found.

Davis said when the building was built, they added extra Cat 5 cables for future internet hookup. He added on those Cat 5 cables -- that’s where these cameras were tied back in and went back in to the interface box, and they were tied back into the Internet to the outside.

Council member Joe Adams said it seemed like a recording device used to be there; or a box, and it was an operating system for a long time; maybe two or three years by his estimation. Adams said someone chopped the internet line on a power pole so their cameras would quit working, maybe when they came back to get the box or recording device so they couldn’t be recorded going in to get it.

“This is for the publics knowledge and we will keep the public notified on what has transpired.” Davis said. “The audio was not hooked up, the white cable is the audio and it was not hooked up’

Also after the executive session, Mayor Dale Davis announced the request from the DEQ to enter into Administrative Order on Consent is on hold, and the Wisconsin Laboratory of Hygiene Environmental Laboratory will be doing more testing on the town’s water supply. Mayor Davis said, “We will be contacting DEQ and tell them what we are doing at this time.”

There is also a meeting scheduled on October 21 in Helena with Great Western Engineering to discuss some of the problems with the Sewer Lagoon.

Also discussed after the executive session was the legal options available to address lost revenue with Whitehall Ambulance.

“This matter has been turned over to the Town’s Attorney Office,” Davis said.

No action was taken for those three items on the agenda from the executive session.

The Council also reviewed and discussed the proposals for engineering services related to the town’s water issues. The Council decided unanimously to turn the proposals over to the Water, Sewer and Garbage Committee to review. The committee expects to have the proposals down to two or three of the seven in the next week and be able to interview those engineering firms.

In the Officer’s Reports, Town Attorney Edward Guza told the Council the recall election is being moved to accommodate the election, because our County Election Director is busy getting ready for the November election.

“The recall issue has been punted down the road a little bit further and we will be scheduling a conference to discuss a date to establish a hearing,” Guza said.

Town Clerk/Treasurer Summer Fellows reported the final budget for the 2016/2017 fiscal year is done. The budget was approved by Council at the meeting.