Police recognize Wellsville students who warned of a gun in the school
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WELLSVILLE -- Substitute teacher Michael Treloar noticed something was amiss with his students in class last Wednesday and tried to talk to them to find out what was wrong, according to Wellsville Police Lt. Marsha Eisenhart. When the students didn't want to tell him in front of friends and be considered a snitch, Treloar suggested they write down what the problem was and the students wrote down gun or drew pictures of a gun.
Eisenhart said there was a kid in the school (Daw Elementary) with a gun, and that she received a message on her phone saying emergency someone has a gun in the school.
She also said teachers Heidi Schmidbauer and Treloar had the situation under control when the police arrived. Eisenhart wanted to recognize the police department as well. Four extra officers were at the school in less than two minutes.
When officers arrived the student still had the gun on him on his side.
"If we had gone in there and he had pointed it at anybody, legally we could of shot him, not that we would have wanted to," Eisenhart said. "There was no orange tip on it. It said Smith & Wesson MP and it just looked like a 9mm gun. He had pointed it at several kids at the school."
The gun ended up being a BB gun.
Eisenhart said it was a call the police department never wanted to get, but fortunately the students stepped up and remembered everything they were taught in safety training and used that information.
Eisenhart said the police department wanted to recognize the students involved along with the teachers for the way they handled situation.
Steven Maczko, Corbin Foden, Deven Dalrymple, Richard Crowe and Jayden Watkins, all sixth-grade students, along with Schmidbauer and Treloar were recognized for their actions by being presented with certificates, McDonalds gift cards and stickers that say "You Rock" during Tuesday's village council meeting. Schmidbauer was presented with a bouquet of flowers.
The students and teachers received a standing ovation from council members and everyone in attendance at the meeting after the certificates were handed out.
The students were also treated to cookies and punch.
There were two other students to be recognized who were not present at the meeting: Johnny Parada and Charlie Ward.
Wellsville Mayor Bob Boley said the students went above and beyond.
Eisenhart said the student who had the BB gun was enrolled in the Wellsville district under open enrollment and he has been sent back to his own district and the county prosecutor is looking at charges.
In other business, Fire Chief Barry Podwel requested a meeting with the Personnel Committee to discuss the need to hire another firefighter. A Personnel Committee meeting is scheduled for Nov. 27 at 6 p.m. in council chambers at village hall.
Fiscal Officer Hoi Wah said that the village received $15,000 from a Bureau of Workers Compensation grant for the fire department to purchase an extraction washing machine. She also noted a public meeting to continue discussions on the Marina and a grant application for a CDBG is scheduled for Dec. 12 at 5:45 p.m. in council chambers.
Boley said that the village received a certified letter from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding a complaint made to them saying that the silt dredge from the marina would be put into the Ohio River. He noted that is untrue and there is already a designated EPA approved location to put the silt.
With an all-in-favor vote the payment of bills totaling $74,308 was approved.
Council member Christy Thirtyacre requested, council to adjourn an executive session to discuss personnel matters. Council resumed the regular session with no action taken.
Three ordinances were approved during the meeting with an all-in-favor vote. The ordinances granted approval to grant consent to the director of the Ohio Department of Transportation authority for a variety of items, increase appropriations for current expenses and expenditures, and to establish rate for burial lots at Spring Hill Cemetery.
Council member Bill Taft said he had been in touch with Scout Solar and the project they thought was going to be dead behind Village Hall is still alive. He noted it looks like Scout Solar was going to replace the transformer there to make it work but it would take a while as they were waiting on consent from AEP.
During the public speaking portion, Eddie Murphy of the Wellsville Community Foundation reminded everyone that tickets are currently on sale for the Wellsville Christmas Tour of Historic Homes Dec. 2-3. Tickets are $25 a piece and can be purchased at the Wellsville Village Hall, Slacks Antiques and at the Wellsville Carnegie Library. The tour includes five homes -- three on Riverside and two on Fife Coal Road, The Ascension Church and Slacks Antiques. Murphy also noted that this Saturday is Shop Small Day across the Country and she encouraged everyone to come out and support Wellsville's small businesses.
Wellsville Village Council meets the first and third Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. in council chambers at Wellsville Village Hall, 1200 Main St. The next regular meeting is scheduled for Dec. 5.