Union City council cites stormwater costs as factor in pausing police hire; candidate to be informed

Mayor Robert Wolf told Union City Borough Council on July 23 that the borough "owes the candidate an explanation for having him go through all this testing and evaluations," and said the applicant is a strong candidate who prefers smaller departments.

Councilors discussed but did not adopt a plan to hire another full-time police officer. Mayor Wolf and the police chief expressed interest in adding staffing, but Councilor Melissa Winkler said she "wasn’t aware that we were looking to hire another officer" and raised concern about the recent unexpected costs from stormwater problems. Councilor James Kerns similarly said stormwater issues and the unknown costs were a factor in the decision not to proceed with hiring at this time.

Jeremy Sterling of Centerville asked the council earlier in the meeting why it had decided not to hire another officer; council members said the matter would be discussed later in the agenda. The Police Chief presented the June 2024 report and there were no questions about that report.

Streets Supervisor Bob Phillips briefed councilors on storm sewer and sinkhole repairs that emerged as an immediate budget pressure. Phillips said crews placed dye in a storm drain near Hogan’s Alley and that "it is getting into the sanitary lines that go to Municipal Lot #1," and that he is arranging camera inspection to trace the flow toward the Salvation Army end. "It wouldn’t be a bad idea to have them camera up to where it ends near Salvation Army to see what that looks like underneath," a staff member, Riley, added.

Council did not make a final determination on police staffing at the July 23 meeting; several related administrative and repair motions were approved later in the session. The council adjourned at 6:38 P.M. and held an executive session on personnel and contracts from 6:42 to 7:37 P.M.