By Kerry Rahm
krahm@wbcowqel.com
Members of the New Washington Village Council effectively wrapped up one important piece of business Monday night, as votes were cast over who would take the vacant council seat created by Paul Forster’s resignation.
Council held the vote despite missing President Joe Blum. The decision came down to two candidates, Jim Kenny and Craig Niese. With four council members in attendance – Brian Agin, Scott Hiler, Gary Langjahr, and Gerri Lucius – votes were cast via slips of paper, which were then given to Solicitor Tim Obringer to count. Obringer declared a tie, and then confirmed that Mayor Ben Lash could cast the tiebreaking vote.
Lash voted for Niese, making him the winner of the vacant seat.
New Washington Police Chief Jeffrey Shook spoke about how he received a grant to start a task force specific to Crawford County and one that will utilize Internet forensics to help in investigations. This move will prevent the NWPD from having to ship out cases, where the current turnaround time for results can be up to six months versus just one week using the Internet process.
The grant will cover equipment, training, and a file sharing program required for the upgrade. Shook plans to have a lab up and running in the department, and needs three new computers and software to do so, which will take up the bulk of the grant money.
Shook said he believed that this “was a good program for every agency in Ohio to have.”
In other matters, Fire Chief Dick Ackerman said the fire department had no trouble with the fireworks at the Hatchery Festival last weekend. Administrator Norm Lucius reported that the pool furniture has arrived and plumbing issues have been fixed at the pool. The council approved a homecoming parade for Buckeye Central High School set for early October.
Lash discussed his concerns about potentially sealing the streetscape’s sidewalks, which were found to be “pitted” from salt use during the winter. He is checking on pricing and will report his findings in a future meeting. Lash said he wants to make sure the council is on board with the idea.