If so, No. I sure the heck don’t. I volunteer. I work for free.

My point was, the PSA does fill some gaps of things that public safety personnel didn’t have access to in the area. Simulators, simunition room, wet lab, training bays, large auditorium, indoor range, multiple classrooms in one roof, and much more. My other point was is that they didn’t duplicate a lot of things that we already have in the area, burn towers, flashover chambers, car fire, confined spaces, high/low angle rescue training areas, and much more.

As far as the County Training Center, While I do have high admiration for Sheriff Fries, I think that his training center would duplicate a few things that the county already has access to. While I do agree that a few of the proposed items are needed, but this might not be the best and economical route to take. Having everything in a central location is great, but not always best. There are enough abandon buildings, fields, and parking lots in the area.

Everyone’s worried about the money. Look at the costs to keep the PSA running, a county training center would cost a lot to operate also, but nothing close to what the PSA is spending.

I know if it came down to it, and the county ran out of money, Fries wouldn’t think twice about jumping on a lawn mower to mow or plow the training center himself so his officers would be able to have the proper training-and I would place money on it that you would never hear him complain once about it, and guess what, if I knew about it, I would help him, regardless of the fact that if I think another training center is needed, nor the fact that I am not even on his department.

One would think the money that they could make off of the local schools that use the facility would be enough to support it. Ivy Tech, Anthis(FWCS), Indiana Tech, IPFW, and Trine.

For Fire departments, FWFD has an older burn tower, flashover chamber and more not too far away. There is Southwest Fire\\\’s burn tower, confined space training, car fire training, and much more that is less than 10 miles from the PSA. No point in wasting more money to duplicate that at the PSA as far as I\\\’m concerned… I\\\’m glad they didn\\\’t do that. Classes can easily be held with the classroom portion at the PSA in the morning and head out to the burn tower after lunch. The Southwest Fire’s training center is already used by most of the NE Indiana public safety departments, not just area fire departments. Police departments use this for their special ops training also.

As far as the driving courses are concerned, in my opinion we should be using existing unused paved areas in the area. The space formerly known as Kitty Hawk property is one area that has been used in the past as a great driving course, and a massive amount of empty, paved land. Setup cones and you will be set.

Ponds…Yes they are frequently found around here, so training with them is needed. But I know of a few local public safety personnel who would volunteer the use of their own ponds. Let alone the public generally says yes at requests to train in their ponds anyways. The same goes for fields and wooded areas.

What about the amazing fitness facility there? Last I heard only certain personnel can use the facility. I think it was only open to FWPD and FWFD. I’m not sure if Allen County Police could use it, and I know Allen County Fire departments do not have access to it. I’d clean up after myself, and even offer to clean a urinal or shovel a sidewalk or two for access to the fitness center.

About the plowing, the city is using these facilities, why don’t they plow the parking lot? Aren’t there some FWPD/FWFD personnel that have offices located here? Are we (Fort Wayne taxpayers) paying the PSA for the use of this, on top of this extra money?

Does the Public Safety academy have a driving track for law enforcement practice & others? That was something I thought would be an excellent idea. The fact that the public would be able to use that track & the shooting range was a positive for me too.

Thus far, I’ve not been impressed with Henry’s lack of performance, willingness to spend willy-nilly and the almost total lack of transparency. It would not surprise be to see a Henry plan to increase the LOIT after the first of the year.