PORT CARBON - The borough council decided Tuesday to start the research to buy 2015 model sport utility vehicle for its police force using borough funds.
"When we did the budget, we had money put aside because we knew we were going to need a new car this year. We figure it will be around $30,000," Councilman Ray Steranko, who heads the council's finance committee, said.
He made the motion to start the SUV search at the council's May meeting Tuesday.
Council President Harold "Bucky" Herndon said he expects the council to buy the new vehicle sometime this summer.
The motion was seconded by Councilman Andy Palokas and carried with votes by Herndon and council members A. Bernice Shirey, Mike Quercia and Warren Thomas.
Council Vice President John Franko was absent from Tuesday's meeting.
The borough council's safety committee will meet with the borough's two full-time officers, Chief Jon J. Bowman and officer Joseph C. Ferraro, to discuss the options, Steranko said.
"There are different packages that come with the lights and everything. We want to make sure it's fully equipped with what we need, so the final cost is pending," Steranko said.
The borough's two-man police force has two police cars, a marked 2006 Ford Crown Victoria and an unmarked 2001 Chevy Impala.
"We're going to trade one of those in. We'll discuss that with the chief," Steranko said.
The council also agreed to buy the police a new Motorola portable two-way radio, which cost about $3,900.50, according to Bowman.
In other matters, motorists who drive through Port Carbon are still becoming familiar with a detour around the Pottsville Street Bridge, which went under construction April 22, Bowman said.
During construction, traffic is being detoured on Commerce, Jackson, Coal and Market streets. The detour will continue until mid-October when the new bridge is expected to open.
At Tuesday's meeting, residents complained about one of the problems with the detour route. It's a problem Bowman mentioned at the council's workshop session last week.
Motorists are forgetting to take notice to the stop signs on Jackson Street at the intersection of Washington Street, according to Bowman.
There haven't been any traffic accidents on the detour route, Bowman said Tuesday, but he's given out tickets to vehicles that have driven through the stop signs.
"We need to find some way to get the police down at the intersection of Jackson and Washington streets to sit there and catch the cars going through the stop signs. The only ones that do the speed limit going up and down Jackson Street are the ones who live in the area, the dump trucks and the tractor-trailers," Trudy Hennick, 209 Jackson St., said.
"I know the police have been down there and have caught some people, but we need more police down there to catch these people because they're not going to stop and someone's either going to get T-boned coming out of Washington Street or a child getting on a school bus is going to be killed. Something has to be done," Hennick said.
"I'm restricted on what I can do as far as the police officers go. We have two full-time officers, each at 40 hours a week," Mayor Charles R. "Chuck" Joy said.
"How much time do they spend at the stop signs versus sitting at borough hall?" Palokas, councilman, asked.
"But they're not just sitting at borough hall," Joy said.
"They're sitting at borough hall," Palokas said.
"Right, taking care of other things that are going on in the borough," Joy said.
"What's our priority, Chuck? The safety of the kids and the school buses," Palokas said.
"It's the safety of the community as a whole," Joy said.
"That's correct. And we're not doing it. ... So, what are we going to do about that?" Palokas asked.
"I don't agree with that," Joy said.
"But it's a fact. I have many parents down there hollering at me, 'Where's the police?' " Palokas said.
"Right. So if we eliminate all the other incidents that are going on in the borough and just prioritize to just the street corner ..." Joy said.
"Incidents of what, Chuck?" Palokas said, interrupting Joy.
"We have one officer on duty and ..." Joy said.
"We only need one officer to sit on Jackson Street for 15 minutes in the morning when the buses come by," Palokas said, interrupting Joy a second time.
"In one person's opinion, you only need one police officer on," Joy said, referring to Palokas. "Crime doesn't stop because we only have one officer on."
"It stops when they're sitting at borough hall six hours out of the eight when they're on duty. Now I know that for a fact," Palokas said.
"There should be at least two officers on," Hennick said.
"I'm not saying they're not here at the station, but they're not just sitting here for eight hours," Joy said.
"Then what are they doing? Where's all the incidents?" Palokas asked.
"There's reports that I can't discuss with you that are confidential, but there's work that they're doing. I've been up to check on them. I was up again last night," Joy said.
Borough fire Chief Michael Welsh chimed in and said problems with the detour were to be expected.
"We knew it was going to be like this. And this is the first council meeting since everything got shut down and the new system with the detour was put in place. So maybe we can start tweaking it," Welsh said.
"The way the people are going through the stops signs, they don't see the sign at all," Bowman said. And he recommended the council put flashing lights on or near the stop signs.
"Can you look into seeing if we can get two of those?" Palokas asked.
"I don't see why not," Bowman said.
The council gave him permission to do so.