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Canfield town-hall meeting covers police, water issues
CANFIELD
The city of Canfield hosted its annual town-hall meeting Thursday night at Mahoning County Career and Technical Center.
More than 100 residents from the city and Canfield Township attended the meeting, which included several city government speakers and a question-and-answer session for the public.
Canfield Police Chief Chuck Colucci thanked the public for support of the five-year, 3.9-mill levy that was passed in November, which will allow the department to replace its aging radios and eventually hire more officers.
The police levy, proposed after cuts to Canfield’s general fund last year, will generate $750,000 annually.
Colucci went on to discuss several major police accomplishments during the year – a foiled bank robbery and the prosecution of a criminal ring selling sports memorabilia featuring fake signatures – and also took time to award a commendation to Thor, the recently retired police dog that was pivotal in locating a little girl who nearly froze to death last November.
During the presentation, Thor was given a large bone in lieu of a key to the city.
Also discussed were plans for selecting a new city manager in the wake of City Manager Joe Warino’s retirement in December. City Councilman Joe LoCicero said the selection would be conducted by a small search team composed of Council President Don Dragish, a council member and three private citizens.
Canfield Mayor Bernie Kosar Sr. was asked during the question-and-answer session how the city intends to select the citizens.
He said any citizens interested in serving should make their interest known to the council. LoCicero added that the selection process would include filling out an application for consideration, and would likely begin in a month.
Staff presentations – including Colucci, Warino, Finance Director Christine Clayton, Canfield Joint Fire District Chief Don Hutchison and Kelly Long and Liz O’Hara, representing the Walnut Grove playground – were primarily used to explain recent developments in the city.
Due to a recent hike in the city’s water rate, water was a particular focus, with Warino spending most of his time explaining how the complexities of getting water from Youngstown to Canfield. Clayton explained how money collected from water bills goes to fund various city departments.
Hutchison discussed the soon-to-open district fire station on Herbert Road. The station will work toward lowering the district’s emergency-response time and will include educational space for CPR and first responder classes.
During the question-and-answer segment, several of the questions dealt with traffic congestion, which Warino addressed, explaining that any plan to widen roads or make significant changes to the flow of traffic would first require a meeting with the residents who would be impacted by the construction.
City resident Frank Micchia, an active participant at council meetings, praised the meeting, saying he was glad to see other residents showing interest in the city’s governance.
“Canfield, like other communities, has issues. But getting this group here together shows that both the city and the community are interested in addressing those issues and keeping Canfield the same great community it’s always been,” he said.