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Union City council delays hiring another full‑time officer amid stormwater cost concerns
Summary
Councilors said recent and pending stormwater repair costs influenced their decision not to hire an additional full‑time police officer; Mayor Robert Wolf said the candidate is "a good candidate" who will continue with consortium testing, and the council held an executive session on personnel and contracts with no action.
Council discussion on July 23 made clear that Union City Borough's reluctance to add a full‑time police officer stems in part from recent and expected stormwater repair costs.
Mayor Robert Wolf told the council the candidate had completed testing and evaluations and "is a good candidate and will be testing in the consortium." Councilors Melissa Winkler and James Kerns said they were concerned about the cost of recent stormwater issues and that those financial considerations affected the decision not to hire the officer at this time. Jeremy Sterling had asked earlier in the meeting about the council's decision not to hire another officer; the council said the topic would be discussed later.
The minutes do not record a new motion to hire or an official rejection by roll call; they record discussion and that the hiring motion failed (no vote detail beyond that). The council later entered an executive session from 6:42 to 7:37 p.m. to discuss personnel and contracts; the minutes state no action was taken during the session.
The police chief provided the June 2024 report earlier in the meeting; no questions on that report are recorded in the minutes. The borough did not record next steps for the candidate or a specific timetable for revisiting staffing.
