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Boardman Police Department welcomes new officer
BOARDMAN
Township police department staffing now is up to 59 officers.
Joshua Kozic was sworn in as the police department’s newest patrolman at a board of trustees meeting Monday. A township patrolman starts off making $17 per hour.
In other board business, trustees voted to approve several purchases: a new snowplow, at a cost of $5,450; replacement of a cement pad in the parking lot of fire station 74 on South Avenue, at a cost of $14,725; a new camera-surveillance system to replace the current system at the township government center, at a cost of $4,632; and an advertising/marketing package from Farris Marketing of Boardman for a new senior check-in program the police department is set to launch, at a cost of $34,050.
Township officials are set to unveil the new program at a news conference Wednesday. They say it is the last piece of what they promised voters when they asked for a five-year, 3.85-mill levy that is up for renewal this year.
The program will send out automated calls to participants on the days and times of their choice. If they do not answer and verify that they are OK, a call will then go to a designated contact person; the next step is to send a police officer to the resident’s home.
Police Chief Jack Nichols says the program is needed because of the number of elderly people who live alone in the community. It’s also not uncommon for officers to find an elderly person in distress who has been in need of help for hours or even days.
He recalled one incident in which police officers found an elderly woman who had been stuck in her bathtub for three days.
“It’s a growing problem for this community,” he said. “If we have only one success in the first year, it’ll be worth every penny.”
Trustees also, as is their standard practice, moved to file an objection to a liquor permit request filed by 18th Amendment Management LLC, doing business as Suzie’s Dogs and Drafts, so that the permit request will move to a ballot for voters to approve or reject.
Suzie’s operates a location in downtown Youngstown and is slated to open a new location at 1393 Boardman-Canfield Road.