Town of Southeast Building Sees Security Updates

Visitors at the Town of Southeast building on Main Street in Brewster will no longer step into a large, open room when they enter, but will instead find themselves in a vestibule.

The small room offers wood walls, a bench, a narrow counter, a window that gives a glimpse of the village, and two doors: one leading outside and another leading into the building. 

There's also a window into the offices, complete with bulletproof glass and a doorbell. A note nearby details how many rings are associated with each department.

Once the town obtains the proper equipment, each visitor's license will pass through a scanner so the document's details are recorded.

The changes are part of security updates Supervisor Tony Hay is implementing across the town.

After the December 2012 shooting in Newtown, CT, the entrance process for visitors at town hall on Route 22 changed.

A locked door now prevents people from accessing the offices of town officials. They are required to stop at the town clerk's window and pass identification under the glass. Folks used to flow through the building freely, stopping at whichever department they needed.

A small door was built in the town clerk's office, too. There are no windows in that space, so it's a second exit.

"I can't do for one and not the other," Hay said of the changes taking place over the last three months at 1 Main Street.
 
"...What happened in Pennsylvania yesterday was proof to the pudding why these things have to happen," Hay said of the shooting that left three dead at a town hall in Saylorsburg, PA Monday night. The town, according to reports, condemned the suspect's property.

"I hate to think like this, but you have no idea what's going to set someone off," Hay told Patch.

The updates at 1 Main also include utilizing a safe that was in operation when the 1886 building housed a bank. A handful of people could fit there in the event of an emergency, Hay said. The space—which sits behind a metal door—could come in handy for someone who is unable to move quickly.

So far, the cost of the upgrades is about $11,500. Additional equipment, including a camera to monitor the vestibule, could bump up that number by a couple thousand.

"I hope I never ever have to use any of it, I hope I wasted $11,500, but I'll tell you what, if it helps save one person life..." Hay said. "These small measures that we’ve taken to protect our employees are worth every penny."

While Hay said he's received many positive comments on the changes, others have voiced criticism. This letter to the editor posted on Patch maintains that the security measures "desecrate" the site at 1 Main.

"This is a landmark building, once a museum quality example of 19th Century prosperity in the Village of Brewster," community member Erin Meagher writes. "What were testaments to the tenacity and financial expertise of Brewster’s early leaders at the First National Bank of Brewster is now nothing more than a box..."

History was taken into account, and the woodwork of the vestibule was crafted to match the interior, Hay said. He contends that because the building transitioned to a town property and lost all of the banking equipment, it lost historic value.