PJ mayor appoints committees

0

PORT JEFFEERSON — Mayor Steve Butterfield shared his list of committee appointments at the beginning of the September meeting of the Port Jefferson Council noting his choices for various committees.

Committes, with the first name being named chairman, includes:

• Safety: Loretta Cook , Robert Bollinger and Crystal Cox

• Street: Tim Smith, Robert Bollinger and Crystal Cox

• Utilities: David Clem, Loretta Cook and Sharon Whitehead

• Finance: David Clem, Tim Smith and Sharon Whitehead

In new business Port Jefferson Council chose Wednesday, Oct. 31, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. as the date and time for Trick-or-Treat night this year.

In other new business, Butterfield noted the annual Municipal League of Mayors Training will be held Oct. 12 in Columbus and asked for council’s approval to attend. It was noted the training is required to make the mayor eligible to conduct Mayor’s Court so council agreed Butterfield should attend and gave their approval.

In the August Mayor’s report Butterfield reported a total income of $1,884 from traffic violations in Mayor’s Court, with $1,233 going to the general fund, $525 to the State of Ohio, $42 for the village computer fund and $84 to the village police department.

Butterfield reported on information Police Chief Mark Bell had provided concerning body-cameras for the police department. Currently the department is using equipment borrowed from another village until acquiring new equipment. Butterfield noted in today’s environment, body-cams are a must have for reasons of liability if nothing else.

“We can also use these to record the proceedings in Mayor’s Court and all the information will be stored and readily available in the event we have a need. AXON Inc. of Scottsdale, Arizona, will provide the service and storage of information,” said Butterfield. “We are looking at a five year contract with the first year costing $1194.77 and $825.44 for the second through fifth year.”

Council agreed that the cameras are needed and Butterfield said he would have all the necessary paperwork verifying the type and cost of equipment and an ordinance ready for consideration at the next meeting on Oct. 1.

Butterfield also noted he is working with Bell on developing a Police Policy Plan for the village by Jan. 1 and noted the need for some basic equipment for the department.

“Mark is looking into a new laptop computer for the department that we can also use in Mayor’s Court. He is also checking on some radios, microphones and batteries and we will need a paper shredder to insure confidentiality concerning the disposal of paperwork with personal information on it,” Butterfield said.

Butterfield also said the village would be adding another “casual” police officer after the first of next year.

“We don’t really want to designate them at ‘part-timers’ because there is no set schedule and the officers just fill in when the need arises. I also plan to suggest we raise the pay scale for our police officers with increases over time as an incentive to keep them on here. As it stands our department is just a stepping stone for some and a way for others to keep up their commission status,” Butterfield said.

Dave Clem and other council members agreed saying perhaps a raise in pay would encourage the officers to stay with the department for longer periods of time.

Butterfield also reported the street repairs on North Lane from Broad to Walnut streets has begun hopefully the project will be complete soon weather permitting. “We are very pleased with how things worked out acquiring grant monies to make improvements on our streets. We’ve made a lot of progress this year and it looks like we are on track to get everything back in order by cold weather.” Butterfield said.

Butterfield also noted a local doctor’s office donated three like-new toilets that can be installed in the Community Center. Councilmen Robert Bollinger and David Clem said they would install the toilets as soon as installation equipment could be purchased for the project.

In other new business heard from resident Don Fair. Fair works for the village on an as-needed basis mowing grass and reported the lawn mower has broken down again and is in need of repairs. The matter was turned over to the street committee to determine whether it should be repaired or a new one purchased.

Fair also noted the village truck needed servicing and that now is the time to look into fixing the snow plow.

Butterfield asked the street committee to look into that issue as well.

Council’s next meeting will be Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. at the Community Center.

By Matt Clayton

For the Sidney Daily News

The writer is a regular contributor to the Sidney Daily News.

No posts to display