Bourne Police Will No Longer Provide Traffic Detail At UCT
Despite the presence of an officer in the interim, Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School will no longer have a dedicated Bourne police officer to do traffic control at the bottom of the hill where the school’s driveway meets Sandwich Road.
In an email to families last week that was viewed by the Enterprise, Superintendent Roger D. Forget acknowledged the difficulties presented last week by not having an officer present at the intersection at the end of the school day to direct traffic.
“In meeting with the Bourne police chief last week,” Mr. Forget wrote, “it was conveyed to me that the Bourne Patrolmen’s Association had ratified a new contract and the previous agreement of a two-hour minimum charge for a 30-minute police detail would now be a four-hour charge effective immediately. Without having the ability to budget for this or the necessary time to find an alternative, the detail was canceled.”
In a phone interview with the Enterprise, Bourne Police Chief Brandon M. Esip said the patrolmen’s association had been in negotiations since last summer, when its contract expired. A new contract was ratified and accepted by the town this month, bringing to an end the previously existing noncontractual agreement that officers would be paid a two-hour minimum to provide an approximately 30-minute detail at the end of the school day at UCT.
The new contract, Chief Esip said, has new language regarding details and stipulates that all details would require a four-hour minimum, regardless of the event. This new language superseded the old agreement with UCT, Chief Esip said, and Mr. Forget was notified of that change and told that the police department would work with the school to make the change “as smooth as possible.”
The chief said the reason there was no detail last week is because the department was experiencing staffing shortages and was therefore unable to allocate an officer. This week, however, an officer has been present to do the detail and will continue to do so in the interim.
“We appreciate Chief Esip’s willingness to work with us to ensure the safety of our students and their families and hope to come up with a permanent solution to this matter in the very near future,” Mr. Forget wrote to families.
In terms of permanent solutions, Mr. Forget said UCT is “exploring options for a certified flagger to be present at those critical times…but this may take time.”
The school has the option to train a staff member as a flagger, Chief Esip said, which it is planning to pursue. The chief said the department will aid in the training of a flagger and is looking to schedule the training with the school.
The school driveway and Sandwich Road intersection is notorious on the Upper Cape. A petition even circulated last summer, calling for the Bourne Select Board to ask the Massachusetts Department of Transportation to install traffic signs and lights at the intersection. It is unclear whether the petition was ever formally presented to either body, but Chief Esip acknowledged the intersection’s hazards, calling it “tough” and saying he would support installing a light at the intersection, should that become a discussion.
“I would support a light at the bottom of that roadway, and it’s important that we have some type of presence there,” he said. “That’s why we’re helping out.”