Campbell City Council moves forward on repaving of U.S. Route 422

October 23, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

By sarah lehr

CAMPBELL

City council authorized money to repave a portion of U.S. Route 422.

The city will partner with Youngstown to repave the road in 2016.

Campbell’s portion extends from just west of Keystone Street to Struthers-Liberty Road and carries an estimated cost of $400,000. Campbell will pay $83,000, including $3,000 in engineering costs. A grant from the Ohio Department of Transportation will cover the remaining 80 percent of the cost.

Council also approved spending $23,757 for a new Dodge Charger police cruiser. The police department currently has six marked and six unmarked cars, according to Police Chief Drew Rauzan.

Additionally, council reviewed legislation for a service contract with Maureen O’Neil, the city’s property specialist. The ordinance would authorize paying O’Neil $18,000 to develop and implement a rental and vacant property registration program within the city, for the retroactive time period of August 2015 to January 2016. Council sent the legislation to a third reading, meaning that it will vote on passage at its next meeting.

Several members of council credited O’Neil with tackling the city’s blight, which is the aim of the registration program.

In other business, council honored Officer Ryan Bloomer, who serves as commander of Campbell’s jail and provides field training to other officers.

“If it weren’t for Officer Bloomer’s work we wouldn’t have a jail in Campbell,” Rauzan said. “The state is cracking down on regulations and Bloomer makes sure we fulfill all of them. ... Having our own jail saves the city tens of thousands of dollars that the county would otherwise be charging us to house inmates.”

After the meeting, Jason Goist was sworn in as a full-time Campbell police officer. Goist will make about $30,600 a year.