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Faced with a proposal to eliminate overnight desk staff and close the front lobbies of two of the county's six district police stations, the County Council included funding to keep the stations open in the $4.39 billion budget it approved Thursday for the fiscal year that begins July 1. 

County Executive Isiah Leggett had suggested closing the lobbies of the Gaithersburg and Bethesda stations between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. every day, which would have saved $316,000 by cutting two civilian desk clerks at each station. Officers would have continued to use the stations during those hours, and emergency phones would have been installed outside.

The 6th District station, on Route 355 north of Montgomery Village Avenue, covers Montgomery Village and assists the Gaithersburg Police Department on more serious crimes. The 2nd District station, on Wisconsin Avenue near East-West Highway, covers Bethesda, Chevy Chase and parts of Potomac.

Given hard choices in hammering out the budget, residents' sense of security should never be compromised, said Councilman Michael J. Knapp, whose district covers Montgomery Village.

"Public safety is the number one thing that people expect from county government," Knapp (D-Dist. 2) of Germantown said just after the vote. "To not be able to go to a police station in the middle of the night, if necessary, was not an option. It was critical to ensure that essential services like these were maintained."

Staff Writer Janel Davis contributed to this report.