AUSTINTOWN Trustees laud cops, dispatcher for rescue

Trustees approved a memorial for Wickliffe Circle.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- Trustees commended a police sergeant, two patrol officers and a dispatcher for their roles in rescuing a man who was critically injured in an all-terrain vehicle accident Jan. 17.
Gary Barnes of Raspberry Lane suffered a pelvic injury that immobilized him when the ATV he was driving flipped over onto him on rough, snow-covered ground in dense woods between North Four Mile Run Road and Interstate 680.
When he called 911 from his cellular phone, he did not know his exact location, and police had to walk two miles in the woods in cold weather to find and remove him.
Police Chief Gordon Ellis presented a letter of commendation to dispatcher Nicole Siciliano and rescue ribbons to Sgt. Thomas Collins and patrol officers William Halase and Kathy Dina.
"It was a really scary moment lying there, not being able to move, waiting for somebody to come and find me. I was really happy to see some uniforms. If it wasn't for you, the outcome could have been much different. I really do thank you from the bottom of my heart," Barnes told the police and dispatcher Monday.
Other action
Trustees also approved construction of a Sept. 11 memorial and gazebo in Wickliffe Circle. The memorial, proposed by Pat Connelly Sr., owner of Connolly's Garden Center on Mahoning Avenue, is to include a 12-by-14-inch piece of the World Trade Center illuminated by a natural-gas-fueled eternal flame.
In other action, trustees:
UAuthorized Township Administrator Michael B. Dockry to apply for a state grant for sidewalk removal and replacement on Burkey Road between Falcon and Woodhurst drives. The job will cost $88,000, with 80 percent of it state-funded, and the rest coming from township funds.
UReappointed Thomas J. Stellers to a five-year term on the township board of zoning appeals.
UHired Jeffery Smith as a part-time social work specialist in the police department's juvenile diversion program, which works with troubled youth and their families.
UHeard Road Superintendent Mike Bertilacci report that the amount of weather-related road breakup in the township this winter exceeds that of 1993. As for pothole damage, he said, "We have not had a winter like this in the past 10 or 12 years."
UAuthorized Dockry or Township Clerk Michael J. Kurish to borrow $500,000 from Farmers National Bank at 2.85 percent interest for six months in anticipation of tax receipts. Such borrowing is routinely done early each year.