Masontown hires new police officer
MASONTOWN — Borough council hired a part-time police officer at Tuesday’s meeting.
Borough police Chief Joe Ryan gave a glowing recommendation for Alexis Metros by saying she is a highly qualified officer. He said Metros would be an essential member of the police force, particularly as vacations and more warrant an extra officer.
Council voted 4-3 to approve hiring Metros. Council members who voted in favor of hiring Metros were Bessie Kopacko, Frank McLaughlin, Edward Gulino and Kay Rendina. Council members who opposed the new hire were Kim Essig, Michael Washko and Harry Lee.
Essig expressed reservations about how the job was not put out for bid so as to gain a larger applicant pool.
Ryan said he didn’t want to put the job out for bid because he had a qualified police officer who is ready to do the job. He said inquiries into the Metros background were positive. Metros serves as a part-time member officer with Brownsville police.
Mayor Toni Petrus echoed much the same thing about reports from Metros’ references and said though she too would have liked to have seen more applicants apply, it was good that the borough was getting such a qualified applicant. She said Metros is the first female police officer ever hired by the borough.
“She is very qualified for the job and looks forward to serving the borough,” Petrus said.
Washko said he opposed the hire because he felt it would be less expensive to pay overtime when needed than to hire a part-time officer.
Ryan said Metros would be paid about $18 an hour and her effective hire date is May 26.
Ryan said when considering paying overtime to police officers versus hiring a new officer, a part-time officer would be paid straight time rather than overtime that other officers would be paid, so there would be a potential savings. He said the borough would not have to incur any training costs. And, Ryan said, the borough would only need to spend $150 to $200 for Metros’ uniforms.
In other matters, council plans to amend the burning ordinance. Council voted 4-3 to approve advertising its plans to approve changes to an ordinance that seeks to ban burning of debris within the borough except within certain parameters.
Council members who voted in favor of the burning ban were Essig, Rendina, Lee and Kopacko, while Washko, McLaughlin and Gulino voted against the changes.
Redina said banning burning opens up the potential for the borough to receive state grants. And, she said, most communities have burning bans already in place.
McLaughlin countered by saying that while he doesn’t like it when people burn things, the ban would create headaches for many residents who would not be inclined to cut or clear debris such as trees and brush and let it sit for months at a time until the garbage workers can pick up for transport to the dump. He said many people may not have the ability to transport large loads of debris away from the borough. Also, McLaughlin said, the borough doesn’t have the property to store such debris.
In other business:
n Ryan thanked McLaughlin and others for a fundraising drive last fall that brought in more than $5,000 needed to pay for the upkeep of the borough’s K-9 unit, Brony. McLaughlin and his wife, Leslie, coordinated the event — a sporting clay shoot that was held at the shooting academy at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Farmington.
n The borough’s Memorial Day parade will start at 10 a.m. on May 27 in front of First National Bank on Main Street and then proceed through the middle of town, the same route as usual. The parade is organized by Masontown’s VFW.
n Tabled a motion to pay Fayette Engineering of Lemont Furnace for services rendered until the company returns documents and more needed by the borough. Sleighter Engineering became the borough’s engineer on Jan. 2 after council ended its long relationship with Fayette Engineering of Lemont Furnace in December. Lee said he talked recently with Fayette Engineering who assured him that it would return any and all documents.
n Announced that hard-to-recycle items will be picked up Saturday at the Fayette County Fairgrounds. Large items will be taken away May 23 as part of garbage pickup.