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SALINEVILLE -- The Salineville police department has applied for a grant but may need the help of a few residents to utilize it.
Acting Chief Keith Evanoff told council this week he has applied for a grant to help the department fill more of the coverage hours needed in the village, especially late at night when the department sometimes must rely on the county sheriff's office because no one is available. Evanoff said having an officer late at night would be a deterrent and reduce response times.
Additionally, the grant could give the department the ability to have an additional officer available while utilizing the narcotics detection of K-9 Frankie, when it is important to have another officer to assist.
If the village receives the $17,766 in grant money Evanoff applied for, the money would be used from March to September. During that time, the village would need to have a collaboration board. Those named to the board would be responsible for helping to evaluate how the police department used the money and consider ways to make the additional hours more permanent after the grant ends.
Evanoff suggested Councilman Buck Higgins should be the council representative on the collaboration board and Fiscal Officer Donna Rudder would take the minutes. But he suggested there should be three to five other village residents on the board. These could be business owners, church leaders or interested citizens who would like to give feedback to the police department.
The board would probably meet three times: once to learn about the grant, once to provide feedback on how things are going and finally once to evaluate the program.
During Monday's meeting, council approved hiring Skyler Barrett as a part-time police officer. Evanoff reported he has received notice of another officer's intention to retire.
Council president Sally Keating suggested council should look at options to find a little more money to pay more for the part time police officers who must work on the holidays.
In other matters:
-- Council discussed a letter from Columbia Gas that indicates the price of natural gas will be increasing for customers as the company looks to make infrastructure improvements. According to the letter, the increase will average about $1.91 monthly or 2.7 percent additional on the typical gas bill.
-- Council's personnel committee will meet at 10 a.m. today to continue making changes to the personnel handbook so it accurately reflects the actual employment practices of the village.
-- Council reorganized for the new year and indicated they wanted legislation prepared to renew the contract of village Solicitor Andy Beech.