Uniontown adds new rank to police
Uniontown City Council Wednesday voted to start the civil service process to add corporals to the police department.
Police Chief Jason Cox said that at present when an officer is not available on a shift, one officer is designated the officer in charge.
“This would give us the ability to have a ranking officer on each shift,” Chief Jason Cox said. “We have not previously had corporals in the police department, but since the last contract, we’ve had corporals in our command.”
Cox said applicants for the corporal positions must have at least three years experience to take the civil service test for the promotion.
Council also accepted the resignation of street department crew chief Ronald Varndell.
Varndell is retiring after 42 years of service with the city, effective January 14.
“He certainly was a faithful employee and I hate to see him go,” said Councilman Blair Jones, who oversees the street department.
Jones said council will most likely consider a replacement for the crew chief’s position at the February council meeting. Varndell also served as the city’s electrician. Jones said that position will not be filled.
Varndell will also receive a lump sum payment of $20,573 for unused sick days and vacation days. The city contract with the street department allows payment for up to 90 unused sick days, according to City Clerk Kim Marshall, and Varndell is eligible for five weeks’ vacation.
In other matters, council opened bids for gasoline and diesel fuel. two bids were received, from Center Independent Energy of Pittsburgh and from 21st Century Energy Group of New Castle. Center Independent was awarded the contract as the low bidder, offering a rate of four cents over the price quoted by the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) for gasoline and 5.4 cents over the OPIS price for diesel. 21st Century put in a bid for 10 cents over the OPIS price for each fuel type. It was noted by council that Center Independent’s profit margin is slightly lower than last year, while the OPIS price is about a dollar a gallon lower than it was a year ago.
Council also authorized repairs to the city’s pump fire engine No. 3 at a cost of $8,048, with the work to be done by F.A.S.T. of the Allegheny Mountains.
Council also voted to sell a vacant lot at 34 Carson St. to Alfred Roycroft of 30 Carson St., which is adjacent. Roycroft has been maintaining the lot. According to Councilman Jared Billy, the lot is assessed at $1,470, but at present, it generates no income for the city because it is city-owned. Solicitor J.W. Eddy said that since the city did not solicit a buyer, but Roycroft made an offer, there is no need to seek bids for the property. Council accepted Roycroft’s offer of $500 for the lot, with the understanding that Roycroft is responsible for all costs associated with the sale.
Council discussed the possibility of imposing a high rise fee on tax exempt apartment buildings in the city, though no action was taken. Billy noted that the fee would help reduce the impact of emergency services to other city property owners who are now paying for the high number of police and fire calls to the apartment buildings.