Washingtonville council OKs police contract
POSTED: June 3, 2008
By LEONARD GLENN CRIST
Salem News staff writer
WASHINGTONVILLE — Village council Monday approved a contract renewal for increased police coverage at an apartment complex known for a large number of complaints.
The contract with Belmont Properties, the owner of the Washingtonville Apartments on 185 Chris Ave., is for 14 weeks, starting May 31 and extending through Sept. 6. This is the third summer the village has provided extra security for the apartments.
Belmont Properties will pay the village $1,442 for two weekly four-hour shifts. That money will cover time-and-a-half overtime pay — $11.20 per hour — for the officer assigned to the apartments as well as Medicare and Public Employees Retirement System payments.
An extra officer will work the apartment duty while another officer remains on village roads, police chief Frank Anderson said.
“This year alone, the Washingtonville Apartments have generated 9 percent of non-criminal calls, 22 percent of our criminal calls and an overall officer commitment of 17 percent,” Anderson wrote in a letter dated May 5 to Belmont Properties.
The combined efforts of the police department and the manager at the apartment complex have led to a large portion of the “trouble tenants” being “charged, convicted and evicted,” Anderson wrote.
Other problems arise, however, when tenants let others live in their apartment, Anderson wrote.
“Many of these individuals we are having constant contact with,” Anderson wrote. “Some have been given criminal trespass warnings and others have been charged.”
Councilwoman Renee Jackson suggested renegotiating the contract next year to include gas mileage to and from the apartments and vehicle wear and tear.
Anderson said the drive is only about a half-mile and officers do not leave their patrol car running while parked at the apartments.
In other police department business, council approved paying double-time to officers who work on six approved holidays each year and time-and-a-half for officers who participate in the Mahoning County OVI Task Force. The task force reimburses the village for the time-and-a-half wages, Anderson said.
Anderson and Mayor Norm Sommers were also recently sworn in as Special Deputy Clerks for Mahoning and Columbiana counties, which gives them the ability to sign officers’ charges. Previously, officers had to find a deputy clerk from neighboring communities to sign charges.
Leonard Glenn Crist can be reached at lcrist@salemnews.net
