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Grant: Use it or lose it Gold Hill faces that prospect with COPS money By MELISSA MARTIN GOLD HILL -- The Department of Justice has given Gold Hill a Dec. 17 deadline to start using grants earmarked for hiring additional police officers. But the town that doesn't have any police officers may have trouble meeting the federal government's pre-Christmas deadline. "This is the final deadline as our department is anticipating Gold Hill Police Department to begin utilizing the awarded grant immediately," wrote Melissa Smiroldo, grant advisor for Oregon and Nebraska, in a Nov. 9 letter to the city of Gold Hill. In August 1997, the Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) awarded Gold Hill grants that now total $114,180 for the hiring of 1-1/2 additional police officers. The city couldn't spend the money because its only police employee, former police chief Dave Crawford, resigned after his conviction of three misdemeanors for a beating incident and a traffic dispute. "There's an assumption in the letter that if we don't begin using the money by Dec. 17, they will pull the grant," said Tony Paxton, city recorder. The November letter was a routine correspondence that the Department of Justice sends to all agencies that haven't used their grant monies, said Jessica Robinson, COPS Community Division in Washington D.C. "Grant funds would not be withheld from an agency solely because it is in the process of hiring a chief," Robinson said in a prepared statement. COPS grants are not designed to replace a city's police budget, nor are they designed to pay the salaries of existing officers, Robinson said. COPS grants should be used to hire new staff, she said. "If an agency falls below its authorized sworn force, it must be actively trying to fill those positions in order to remain in compliance with the COPS grant conditions," she said. Meanwhile, the City Council is moving forward on plans to contract with the Jackson County Sheriff's Office for police coverage for the next six months or until Gold Hill hires its own police chief. Jackson County Sheriff Bob Kennedy is expected to present an updated proposal for deputy coverage in Gold Hill sometime this week. Council members will meet at 6 p.m. Monday in City Hall to discuss the sheriff's contract, as well as beginning again the process for hiring a chief. Gold Hill nearly hired a Troutdale resident in October, but withdrew the job offer after a reference check revealed poor work habits. At the same time, the city is completing paperwork to fulfill requirements of the COPS grant. The city submitted a retention plan to show how Gold Hill would continue funding the new 1-1/2 police positions for one year after the grant's expiration. Gold Hill's plan includes: $15,000 from tickets, fines and crime restitution; $20,000 by selling city properties; grants earmarked for police services; and asking voters to approve a bond measure or police levy. The COPS program has tried to make the grant offer more affordable for Gold Hill, according to Robinson. The Washington, D.C. office lowered Gold Hill's required matching funds from the standard 25 percent to 10 percent. Whether Gold Hill could use its COPS grants to hire a Jackson County Sheriff's deputy, the Department of Justice wouldn't answer directly. "COPS grants are awarded to add officers to the beat," Robinson said. Today's Business Index Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA