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Votes at a glance: City of Canton council actions Feb. 6 — road acceptance memorandum, safety ambassadors, co-responder MOU and insurance renewal approved
Summary
At its Feb. 6 meeting the Canton City Council approved a memorandum committing to accept Summit at Town Mill streets once developer conditions are met; authorized hiring four Canton Ambassadors for Public Safety (unsworn positions); approved a co‑responder memorandum with Highland Rivers Behavioral Services for $100,000 per year;
The City of Canton council took multiple formal actions Feb. 6 during its business meeting. The items below summarize the votes and key details recorded on the meeting record.
Memorandum of acceptance — Summit at Town Mill - Motion: Approve memorandum for acceptance of roadways within the Summit at Town Mill. - Outcome: Approved (council voice vote; meeting minutes state “All members voted for the motion”). - Notes: The memorandum commits the city to accept public maintenance of the subdivision streets once the developer completes specified conditions; staff will return to council with the formal acceptance paperwork after the conditions are met.
Canton Ambassadors for Public Safety (CAPS) - Motion: Approve hiring of four Canton Ambassadors for Public Safety. - Outcome: Approved (voice vote; “All members voted for the motion”). - Key details: Chief Farrell said ambassadors will be civilian, unsworn personnel who will patrol parks, take certain reports (theft, private property incidents), and assist with traffic control to free sworn officers for other duties. Vehicles will be marked Toyota Tacomas with non‑police attire, body cameras and vehicle dash cameras; ambassadors will not be armed. Training is expected to include an initial roughly eight‑week program with field training components. The starting compensation cited in the meeting was presented as "$51.01 47 per year" and as "$24.59 per hour" by the chief; the record shows the council approved the program and funding through the current budget for the rest of the fiscal year, with a 2026 budget request planned.
Highland Rivers co‑responder memorandum (behavioral health clinician) - Motion: Approve memorandum of understanding (MOU) to fund a co‑responder clinician via Highland Rivers Behavioral Services. - Outcome: Approved (voice vote; “All members voted for the motion”). - Key details: Chief Farrell said the arrangement will fund a clinician to ride with a police officer for behavioral‑health calls; the clinician would be employed by Highland Rivers, not the city. The chief stated the MOU amount is $100,000 per year to Highland Rivers and that funding would be drawn from ARPA funds as presented to council.
Health insurance renewal (Anthem) - Motion: Approve fiscal 2025–26 health insurance renewal with Anthem. - Outcome: Approved (voice vote; “All members voted for the motion”). - Key details: Staff reported Anthem proposed a 3% increase for medical premiums for the plan year beginning April 1, 2025; the dental renewal initially quoted 20% but a broker negotiated the increase down to 9%.
Other formal items - The council approved the Jan. 16 draft meeting minutes (voice vote). The council also confirmed an appointment to the Canton Tourism Board (Dana Cox) and adjourned to executive session to discuss real estate.
Why it matters: The actions create near‑term operational changes (new public‑safety civilian positions and a funded co‑responder clinic contract) and commit the city to accept subdivision streets once developer conditions are satisfied. The insurance renewal affects employee benefits for the coming plan year.
