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--> --> Talent will continue with Metro Air One chopper surveillance By Maggie McGehee Ashland Daily Tidings TALENT - The Metro Air One police helicopter will once again take to the town's skies. The City Council Wednesday approved a recommendation by the city's Police Helicopter Advisory Committee to continue participation in the program with some restrictions on the altitude and areas of routine patrols, use of the helicopter spotlight and liability insurance. The council approved the helicopter committee's recommendation and instructed City Attorney Bill Mansfield to draft a contract between the city and the Metro Air One board of directors stipulating the city's conditions for participation in the program. Unless the board of directors refuses to agree the terms of the contract, the Metro Air One police helicopter will fly again, according to City Administrator Kelly Madding. However, the helicopter will not take to the skies until after the contract has been signed by all parties involved. The helicopter committee reviewed the program for three months and gather citizen comment on the matter before deciding on its recommendation earlier this month. The committee decided that it would be in the best interest of all of Talent's residents to maintain participation in the Metro Air One police helicopter program - which serves communities in the Rogue Valley in exchange for the different municipalities contributing money toward fuel and maintenance costs, as each city's budget allows, and provide a police officer once a week for training and patrols. Though there has been some strong dissent to the helicopter in town, the city can not forbid the chopper from flying, but, by maintaining participation in the program and keeping a Talent representative on the program's board of directors, the city will at least have some control over the helicopter's flights and uses. Only the Federal Aviation Administration can dictate where helicopters and planes can fly over cities and at what height, he said. The City of Ashland's participation in the program is limited to emergencies only. The contract will stipulate that helicopter pilots will conduct routine patrols only over the east side of Highway 99, that the pilots only use the spotlight in life-threatening or potentially life-threatening situations, and that pilots fly 500 feet higher on patrols - 1,500 feet during the day and 2,200 feet at night. The Metro Air One helicopter also must be insured at no less than $10 million under the contract. The helicopter committee will also remain intact and will review all citizen comments and will revisit the issue in three months, or earlier if the city receives more than 100 complaints about the helicopter, to review the city's participation in the program. In other action Wednesday the council appointed Dianne Vinlove to the city's parks commission and heard an update on the city's regional problem solving process. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing