POLICE In-car modems coming

Commissioners also hired some personnel.
By MARY GRZEBIENIAK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
MERCER, Pa. -- Nine police agencies will soon be able to access criminal backgrounds from modems in their cruisers thanks to state grant money.
On Thursday, Mercer County commissioners approved agreements with the agencies to purchase E-911/J-Net mobile data terminals which will give them access to the county microwave communication system. Participating agencies are: Hermitage, Sandy Lake, Sharpsville, Greenville and Jamestown; and South Pymatuning, Pymatuning and Hempfield townships. Also participating is the Southwest Mercer County Regional Police Commission.
The agencies will pay 50 percent of the cost, which ranges from $242 to $2,176 depending on the number of cruisers which need to be equipped.
Quicker access
The county is the pass-through for the grant money from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, administered through the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, according to Don Fedorczyk, Intermediate Punishment Program Coordinator/J-NET Coordinator. Fedorczyk said the equipment will mean that police officers will now be able to access a "rap sheet," photo and information from several law enforcement agencies from their cars. Before J-Net, Fedorczyk said the information took much longer to obtain.
Also Thursday, Thomas Inman of Mercer was hired as a new internal auditor for the controller's office at $41,174 per year. Inman, who is currently an accountant at the Mercer County Office on Aging, will start Aug. 2. He previously worked as an auditor in the controller's office for nine years and has 23 years business and government accounting experience.
Other actions
Commissioners also:
UAgreed to a three-year contract with Verizon for long-distance service. The county now pays nine cents per minute for in-state and 6.64 cents out-of-state. The new contract rates will drop to 7.3 and 5.3 cents respectively.
UEntered an agreement with Community Alternatives, New Castle, for $13,500 worth of homemaker services and $27,500 worth of family harmony services.
UAccepted a $103,483 bid from Northwest Roofing Co., Inc., Meadville, to replace a roof at the Acker Building on U.S. Route 62. Northwest was the only bidder. The building houses Children and Youth Services and the County Bridge Department.
UApproved an application to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for an 80 percent grant for a $74,564 feasibility study of an anaerobic digester in Mercer County. Don Blakesley, County Recycling Coordinator, said the project will determine whether it is practical to use waste from dairy farm food processes and food waste from the county prison and new jail to produce methane gas to be used as an alternative energy source to fuel boilers or water heating. The 20 percent local match would be provided by in-kind services and would not cost the county anything.
*Hired Janice Kotch as a temporary clerical assistant for the District Attorney's office at $9.47 per hour.
*Approved a $13,000 a year contract with Atty. Robert Vitello to provide legal counsel to parents in child dependency cases for Children and Youth Services.