Sep 19, 2013 By Toni Cekada for The 3 min read

SMITHFIELD — Southwest Regional Police Chief John Hartman will attend the borough’s next regular meeting to discuss the possibility of adding the area to the regional police force’s existing coverage.

“The topic for discussion would be to possibly supply the borough with 24/7 police service at a reasonable rate,” solicitor Gene Grimm said.

Hartman is the chief of the second largest regional police department in the state which covers 10 municipalities in Fayette, Greene and Washington counties.

At a recent meeting with the Herald-Standard editorial board, he said that other municipalities in Fayette County have asked about the possibility of using Southwest Regional police for coverage.

In 2005, Hartman and five other police officers began providing service to Belle Vernon and Newell through the policing agency. Currently, Hartman heads a 20-officer department and has 10 cars that serve the areas Southwest Regional police coverage area.

While he tailors a plan to each municipality’s coverage needs, Hartman said previously the basic coverage cost of one officer and patrol car is $50 an hour.

Meanwhile, council announced that dye tests will “soon” be conducted throughout the borough.

“We can’t have this much excess water coming into the (sewage treatment) plant,” President Larry Leech said.

Dye tests are conducted to determine if unwanted water is entering sewer lines from downspouts or unauthorized water drains.

If it is determined that a homeowner’s downspout is connected to the sewer line, the person will be asked to disconnect those lines, Leech said.

If the owner does not comply, the borough will unhook the lines at the owner’s expense, Leech added, noting that it is illegal for downspout or unauthorized drain water to enter sewer lines.

In other matters, council:

n Council said it was pleased to see the amount of people using the Smithfield Community Park, especially since it upgraded the basketball court this past summer.

n Recycling for the borough is on Monday, and the county’s hard-to-recycle event will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 5 at the Wharton Township Municipal Building in Farmington.

The following items will be accepted for little or no cost: Used motor oil; used tires removed from the rims, $1.50 each for car and light truck and $8 each for large truck; large steel appliances, $2 each; TVs and computers, $5 each; and smaller electronic items, $2 each.

Household hazardous waste and paint cans will not be accepted.

For more information, call (724) 430-4884, or email bcarson@fayettepa.org.

The next regular meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Oct. 15 at the Smithfield Borough Building on Water Street.