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Middletown council approves finance, personnel and appointment items; CASA volunteer urges state funding boost
Summary
At its Feb. 9 meeting the Middletown Town Council approved the Treasurer's Report, a police holiday policy revision and appointed Tracy Madagan to the Planning Commission. CASA volunteer Bill Kircher asked the council to endorse a proposed $4 million state increase for Court Appointed Special Advocates.
The Middletown Town Council met on Feb. 9, 2026 in council chambers and approved several routine finance and personnel items, set a March work session and heard a public comment urging support for expanded statewide CASA funding.
Councilor Jacob Skeith moved to set the evening's agenda; Vice Mayor Jeffrey Pennington seconded and the council approved the agenda. Councilor Carolyn Aliff moved to approve the Jan. 12, 2026 Joint Public Hearing and Finance Committee minutes; Councilor Diane Newman-Shannon seconded and the minutes were approved unanimously.
On the Treasurer's Report, Skeith moved to approve and Newman-Shannon seconded. Mayor Charles Harbaugh called a roll-call vote: Councilors Carolyn Aliff, Diane Newman-Shannon, Jessica Chekaldin, Jacob Skeith, Jeffrey Pennington and George Smith voted yes and the motion carried, 6-0.
Councilors also approved a revision to Section 5.5 (Holidays), Addendum 2 for the Police Department after a motion by Councilor Skeith and a second by Councilor Pennington. A roll-call vote recorded six Yes votes and the motion carried 6-0.
Councilor George Smith moved to appoint Tracy Madagan to the Planning Commission; Councilor Aliff seconded and the appointment carried on a 6-0 roll-call vote.
In a public safety update, Chief Gary Benedict Jr. told the council that Officer Seabaugh "is doing well and will return soon," in response to a council inquiry about the officer's status.
During the public comment period, Bill Kircher of 7800 Church St., who identified himself as a Court Appointed Special Advocate volunteer for Warren County, asked the council to pass a resolution backing a proposed increase to the CASA program's state funding. "The child welfare system is under extraordinary strain," Kircher said, and he provided program statistics, saying roughly 3,430 children were served statewide in 2024–2025 and 1,419 volunteers provided advocacy that year. He said an ongoing bipartisan amendment sponsored by state lawmakers would add about $4 million to CASA's budget and noted the program has had no funding increase since 2008.
Mayor Harbaugh announced the Heart & Soul 5K scheduled for Feb. 14, 2026, and set a council Work Session for March 2, 2026 at 7:00 p.m. The meeting was adjourned at 7:08 p.m.
Votes at a glance: - Treasurer's Report: motion passed; roll-call recorded 6 Yes, 0 No, 0 Abstain. - Police Holidays (Section 5.5, Addendum 2): motion passed; roll-call recorded 6 Yes, 0 No, 0 Abstain. - Appointment — Tracy Madagan, Planning Commission: motion passed; roll-call recorded 6 Yes, 0 No, 0 Abstain.
Next steps: No council action on the CASA request was recorded during the meeting; the request was presented as public comment for council consideration.
