South Bloomfield keeps emergency sirens, moves ahead with IT upgrades; police present merit award

Village Administrator Joe Allen told the Village of South Bloomfield Council Feb. 2 that the county Emergency Management Agency has been phasing out community sirens, but after discussion the council decided to retain the village's sirens for now. Joe also said the street department remains engaged in post-storm cleanup.

Fiscal Officer Alisha Burke reported she and a colleague met with vendor RedHelm to begin an Active Directory integration project intended to let staff sync logins across workstations and improve security and data backup. RedHelm will also assist with configuring council computers, she said.

Police Chief Michael Maynard presented a certificate of merit to Sgt. Francis and reviewed department statistics for January. He told the council that an independent promotion board reviewed candidates for the third-shift sergeant position; Officer Marcum was the sole applicant and scored highly on the board's assessment. Chief Maynard and councilmembers noted the department is operating with two vacant positions, which contributed to higher overtime on the wage report.

In public feedback, Lieutenant Hempstead said there were fewer parking citations during the recent storm but that three vehicles had to be towed. Resident Bing Crosby commended the street crew's cleanup work. Councilmember Lisa McDorman asked for clarification about overtime, and Amber Murphy reminded volunteers about a community Valentine party this weekend.

The meeting closed with routine motions including payment of bills and adjournment at 6:43 p.m.