LAWRENCE COUNTY Officials consider speed trackers

The COG will host a forum about a proposed change in county government.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Lawrence County's Council of Governments is looking into buying speed monitoring devices to place throughout the county.
The large signs that register a car's speed in big bright numbers are unenforceable for speeding tickets but work wonders slowing down speedy drivers, said Philip Carlo, superintendent of Neshannock Township Police Department.
Carlo brought the device to Wednesday's COG meeting and set it up outside Pepe and Mal's Restaurant in Shenango Township to demonstrate how it is used.
"It's an exceptional public-relations tool. It does slow cars down. We've put it in areas where we've had speeding complaints, and the residents didn't want us to take it out," Carlo said.
Neshannock police are testing the model and must give it back to the manufacturer eventually, he said. The devices cost from $7,500 to $20,000, he said.
COG members agreed to look into funding sources to pay for the units, which can also conduct traffic studies by registering vehicle speeds and the time of day.
COG Executive Director Robert Callen noted there are low-interest loans available for equipment that would be shared by several municipalities.
Forum on changes
In other business, the COG is sponsoring a forum at 7 p.m. Oct. 28 in the Union Area High School auditorium on the proposed change in county government.
Callen said representatives from the Pennsylvania County Commissioners Association and International City Managers Association will speak. Grove City College will videotape the event, and it will later air on Adelphia Cable's public access channel.
Voters will decide in November if they want to switch from three county commissioners and other elected offices to a part-time county council with a professional manager. All other elected offices, except controller and district attorney, would be abolished and replaced with department heads.
Lawrence County Commissioner Roger DeCarbo also informed COG members that the county is continuing its effort to create a countywide redevelopment authority and a special-purpose authority.
He said both could be used as development tools but would go into a community only if approved by the local elected officials.
DeCarbo said a special-purpose authority could borrow money through bond issues that could cover projects in several municipalities, while a redevelopment authority would have the power to take property by eminent domain for private use. Municipalities are permitted to use their eminent domain powers only for public use.