Ashton police chief to go part time
ASHTON – The village’s police chief had planned to retire, but he decided to stay on as a part-time officer, officials said this week.
Chief Jim Hetland submitted a letter stating that he was withdrawing his retirement request. The village is hiring another part-time officer, retired state trooper Mike Broome, to pick up the slack, officials said.
Ashton, population 972, expects to save money because it won’t have to pay for the benefits that it gives full-time employees.
Another advantage is that Broome lives in town, while the chief commutes from Rochelle, said Andrew Kida, a village board member.
“This will be an easy transition. We’re not losing any hours of coverage for the village,” Kida said.
On another issue, the village recently transferred ownership of a Main Street building to a Chicago-area man.
The village took possession of the building at 804-806 Main St. over the summer.
The new owner gave a $5,000 check to Ashton to cover the city’s legal costs. He is also expected to pay some of the property taxes associated with the building, officials said.
The village condemned the building years ago and got a court order to secure the structure to protect the public’s health and safety.
Kida said Ashton avoided the costly fate of most towns that have crumbling buildings.
“I see the problem resolved here, with little to no cost to the village. That’s a big deal,” he said.
