Port authority taps Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office to provide security at Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport.

Staff report

WARREN

The Western Reserve Port Authority has selected the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office to provide security at Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport starting May 12.

It ends five years of service from the Vienna Township Police Department, which was outbid by the sheriff’s office.

Dan Dickten, airport aviation director, said it costs about $60,000 per year for airport security, and the sheriff’s office offered a bid that was $8,786 lower than Vienna, which has had the contract.

Vienna Police Chief Bob Ludt warned the port authority at its meeting Wednesday the airport could experience delays in getting an officer with the sheriff’s office because its deputies might have to come from “another part of the county.”

Dickten said he’s been guaranteed deputies coming from their patrol duties will be at the airport in five to 10 minutes.

Sheriff Paul Monroe said deputies working specific airport security shifts related to flights will be assigned to those shifts separately from their patrol duties.

Only the sheriff’s office and Vienna police have jurisdiction to provide airport security, Dickten said.

He added the airport has lost revenue because of competition from the Cleveland and Pittsburgh airports and needs to cut expenses where it can.

The National Transportation Safety Administration also might eliminate reimbursement of security costs in 2018, he added.