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Academy scheduling causes delay for Wellsville PD

WELLSVILLE — The village’s police department is looking to bring new officers in, but is waiting for the officers to graduate from their respective academies.

During Tuesday’s village council meeting, councilman John Morrow discussed some recent conversations he’s had with Police Chief Ed Wilson and Lieutenant Marcia Eisenhart, along with state auditor’s Local Government Services representative Tisha Turner, in regard to bringing new police officers to the village.

Morrow said that through the discussions, he learned via Turner that with the amount of money that the village had been spending on overtime for its police, it could have had at least 13 full-time officers.

Morrow added that two officers currently training at the academy at Eastern Gateway Community College (EGCC) in Steubenville have expressed interest in joining the Wellsville force, but Morrow explained the wait time for them to join is a little long.

“The problem is it’s a nine-month academy at Eastern Gateway in Steubenville,” Morrow said. “One is done in January, one is done in September.”

Morrow said the village is looking to work with Youngstown State University’s police academy, whose training time is half that of EGCC. He said this would also give the village an opportunity to hire more officers and cut down on overtime, reported as an issue as the village goes through its fiscal emergency period, to which its overtime budget was considered to have been used up by the end of the year.

Morrow also reported he spoke with Pastor John Lytle of the Family Recovery Center of East Liverpool regarding receiving a ride-along counselor for police stops.

This program would involve a counselor taking a counseling session that would help families with grieving over any instances of violence and drug usage, whether any injuries or fatalities take place. More information would be discussed in the future.

In addition, training has been reported with the police for drug training, which would expedite the process of determining what drugs are being picked up, compared to sending the drugs to the Bureau of Criminal Investigations (BCI), which could take months and lead to the village issuing an arrest warrant.

In other business:

— During his report, Village Administrator Jerry Medley said crews have been cleaning alleys, streets, and at the flood wall area near the Lisbon Street bridge. Crews have also removed scrap from area properties and have mowed near the fountains at Broadway Avenue.

Medley also reported a road department truck out for repairs at Hill International has returned to the fleet.

— Karen Dash, water, sewer, refuse committee chairperson, reported the Buckeye Water District’s Hibbetts Mill water line replacement project was set to begin Wednesday, and as a result, the road to the village marina will be closed to the public, and will be torn up. Dash said once the road is fixed, speed bumps will be included. Some traffic delays are anticipated during work.

— Property, Equipment, Cemetery Committee chairman John Cianni provided an update on properties set for demolition. Those properties — at 422 Johnson Place, 427 10th St. and 1225 Commerce St. — have not yet been scheduled, and Cianni said he would contact Land Bank representative Bob Ritchie for more details. Cianni also reported two other homeowners — for 1103 Riverside Ave. and 945 Center St. — are still to act on their pending demolitions.

— During the second public comment period, Nevada Street resident Kenny Groom inquired whether the village will be able to provide a list of streets that are being considered to be paved, pending the results of the half-percent income tax increase on the Nov. 7 ballot. Morrow said he will be able to provide a map of the considered streets, and will have that available at the next Moving Wellsville Forward levy forum, which is 6 p.m. today at Wellsville High School.

The next regular council meeting is 6 p.m. Nov. 8 at Village Hall. Normally scheduled for the first and third Tuesdays of the month, the next meeting will be pushed back one day due to Election Day.

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