South Union, Uniontown poised to approve agreement for city to police Sheepskin Trail area
The Sheepskin Trail has been attracting a wide array of demographics in South Union Township since the township completed its 2.2-mile portion of the trail last year.
“(There’s been a) tremendous amount of use of the trail by wide host of peoples,” township Supervisor Robert Schiffbauer said, noting that senior citizens and mothers with small children often trek along the trail, whose wayfarers include not just young adults on bikes but those who get around in wheelchairs and strollers.
That’s why South Union Township is poised to approve an intergovernmental contract with the city of Uniontown providing for city police services in the township areas of Sheepskin Trail, Hutchinson Walkway and Hutchinson Park.
“We wanted people using this trail to feel safe,” Schiffbauer said.
Uniontown City Council on July 10 introduced an ordinance in a 4-0 vote authorizing the city to enter into an intermunicipal police services agreement with South Union Township after city police Chief Jason Cox reported several meetings in the past month with township supervisors working toward the agreement.
“The meetings have went well, and it does appear that the contract will be beneficial for both the city of Uniontown and South Union Township,” Cox said.
The South Union Township Board of Supervisors plans to adopt the contract at its Aug. 1 meeting, Schiffbauer said, and Uniontown City Council is slated to adopt the contract at a special meeting Tuesday.
South Union Township would agree to pay the city of Uniontown an administrative fee of $208.33 monthly and a blended rate of $42.18 per hour for services rendered, per a copy of the proposed contract. City police officers who appear on the township’s behalf in criminal hearings and trials in the Court of Common Pleas or in district justice courts will have that time counted as part of the hours for services rendered by the Uniontown Police Department to the township.
South Union Township does not have its own police department and relies on state police for coverage, an arrangement that Schiffbauer said will not be impacted by the proposed agreement.
City police will respond to all emergency and 911 calls in the service area, per the proposed agreement. Either municipality may terminate the agreement at any time by giving 30 days notice.
The agreement calls for city police to use vehicles currently owned by the city or to be acquired by the city, including motorcycles, police bicycles and patrol vehicles, to police the area.
Schiffbauer said that all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) have been a minor issue on the trail, noting that several more choke points to discourage ATV use will be added strategically along the trail, which already contains some choke points in addition to camera surveillance.
Schiffbauer views the proposed agreement as an example of intergovernmental cooperation making sense.
“When police are most effective is when they’re proactive,” Schiffbauer said.