Urbandale Officials Meet with Motel Relax Owner

Urbandale city officials met with the owner and property manager of the crime-plagued this morning to begin a partnership to reduce problems at the low-cost extended-stay hotel.

Also, Urbandale Police Chief Ross McCarty corrected statistics that his office compiled and released last week. At that time, said police had been summoned to the motel at 7625 Hickman Road more than 1,100 times in the past three years.

In fact, said McCarty, the number of police trips was about half that — 552.

Correcting the Record

McCarty said the original statistics should have been labeled "officers assigned calls for service" and reflected the number of officers sent to a call. So if two officers went to a single call, the number 2 would be entered, he explained in a statement.

"I apologize for the mislabeled statistics," McCarty said.

Jill Mollison, the manager of the property, said: "It was a positive meeting. I think we're looking forward to making changes with the help of the Urbandale Police Department."

Mollison said she is glad the statistics have been clarified. "There's a reason I said I didn't know we had 350 calls out there. I wasn't lying."

Mollison also noted that the motel is not owned by Bassman Real Estate, as was reported in a previous Patch article. The property is owned by a group of owners who have formed a limited liability corporation. Mollison is one of those owners.

She said there may have been confusion because she also sells real estate for Bassman.

Goal: Get Rid of Illegal Drugs

McCarty said he is confident that "working together with Jill and the motel staff, we'll be able to eliminate the high-risk clientele involved with illegal usage of high-risk narcotics. I am optimistic that our new coalition will create a positive change at Motel Relax."

He also added that he is encouraged that Mollison had hired N.P.I. Security to provide extra security at the motel. "We see this as a very positive indication of the management's commitment to changing the motel's image."

McCarty said the meeting involved police, Mayor Robert Andeweg, City Manager A.J. Johnson, Mollison and her lawyer.

Police will conduct a daily review of service trips to the motel and will communicate those to the motel's management, as well as any recommended follow-up actions. Furthermore, each patrol supervisor will personally visit with the on-duty clerks to ensure accountability and familiarity with motel staff.

He said police calls initially may go up as officers try to rid the motel of law-breakers, but in the end the number of police calls will be reduced.

"We have set July 2012 as our benchmark for measuring the success of our new efforts," he said.

Added Mollison: "We're looking forward to working with the police department. We don't want any problems out there."