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Four officers sworn in; police and city departments report hiring, training and projects
Summary
Columbia City swore in four police officers at its Jan. 28 meeting and received routine departmental updates on hiring, training, public works bids and community events.
Columbia City on Jan. 28 swore in four new police officers and heard routine department reports from police, utilities, fire and parks staff covering hiring, training and ongoing public works projects.
At the start of the relevant agenda item, the mayor and the police chief introduced the officers and swore in Jamal Smith, Jeffrey Ewing, Lewis Fuller and Austin Sternis. Police staff reported that Ewing and Smith are in field training (FTO), Fuller and Sternis have completed FTO with Fuller serving as the school resource officer and Sternis working on solo road patrol evaluations.
The police chief (name not provided in the transcript) thanked families for their support and said the department is accepting applications to hire three officers; applications and testing were described as open through Feb. 15, the day of testing. The chief also reported upcoming and recent training: a four-hour situational awareness class for Officer Fuller, a planned multi-scenario field training day combining emergency vehicle operations, firearms, defensive tactics and situational-awareness drills, and continued dispatch trainee progress.
Other department updates recorded in the meeting transcript included electric and utilities work (pole replacements as weather allows; completion of an inventory), contract and terms-and-conditions drafting being reviewed by legal staff (Marsha), a new SUV received for training use, and a shared-kitchen contract from the school delivered to city staff.
The fire department reported its annual training calendar is complete, the breathing-air compressor used to fill SCBA packs was operating again, and staff are collecting quotes to repair lower metal on the west side of the firehouse after vehicle damage. Public works reported a Community Crossings bid opening for the street package with an engineer's estimate of $2,052,000 and a lowest bid about $400,000 lower than that estimate; the city said it is seeking a grinder contractor to handle leaf grinding before spring.
Youth Council representative Erin Davito updated the council on recent Youth Council activities, including a Christmas party, shopping for Mission 25 at Dollar Tree and a tour of Mission 25's new building followed by donation drop-off.
No formal council action (other than the earlier housekeeping votes recorded separately) was taken on the department reports during the excerpt provided.
