Canfield council approves a final 2017 budget of slightly more than $10.3 million

By Graig Graziosi

ggraziosi@vindy.com

CANFIELD

City council has approved a final 2017 budget of slightly more than $10.3 million.

City Manager Joe Warino provided a list of planned capital improvements included in the budget, which council approved Wednesday. Among the expenditures listed is $40,000 to be used to replace failing information technology equipment – switches, battery back-ups, replacement fiber – which ensure city communication channels, including the police dispatch center, stay functional.

An additional $40,000 will go toward the purchase of a pair of new police cruisers for the police department. Warino said each of the vehicles has more than 120,000 miles logged, and the service cost for maintaining the vehicles last year exceeded $20,000.

A $120,000 allocation will go toward public works expenditures for the maintenance of the city’s minor equipment – mowers, cutters etc. – as well as the replacement of a mower with a blown head gasket.

An additional $62,000 will go toward renovating the Public Works building, which Warino described as “falling into disrepair.”

In other business, Warino said the city planned on reinstituting the leaf pickup assistance service this year after calls from residents for its return.

Police Chief Chuck Colucci reported a pair of daytime break-ins that did not result in injuries as well as a number of overnight car break-ins in the city.

Colucci said the car break-ins were largely crimes of opportunity, and he urged residents to lock their cars at night.