Mayor swears in new police officer

CHESAPEAKE — Chesapeake council voted at an extended meeting on Monday to approve a permit fee for new businesses opening in the village.

The council voted 4-0 to approve the measure.

The four members were enough to have a quorum. Council member Richard Stover was absent from the meeting, while Paul Hart arrived halfway through the meeting.

The council has sought a way to screen new businesses opening in the village, following the objections of some village residents to a planned addiction treatment house for men by Riverside Recovery Services on Riverside Drive.

The initial fee for new businesses would be $10. Those who do not comply would face a penalty of $500, Hart said.

The council also approved, in a 5-0 vote, mayor Tommy Templeton’s request to hire Sgt. Lenny Abrams, who currently works for the South Point Police Department, as a part-time officer.

Abrams told The Tribune that he has more than 20 years in law enforcement and that he will still work for South Point’s police force. He said he has applied for the position of Chesapeake’s police chief, following the removal of Dennis Gibson from the job at a council meeting last month.

The mayor and council also heard from Jeannine Classing, who owns rental property on Second Avenue.

Classing presented the council with a letter and petition from village residents who were concerned about an abandoned house on the adjoining property.

Classing said she has been fighting over the condition of the house for years, and nothing had been done. She said the home was in a state of dilapidation, needed condemned and that the yard was overgrown and was only mowed a handful of times per year.

She said her tenants have witnessed the alleged conditions and that the yard is becoming a home for snakes and other animals.

“They’ve seen raccoons and cats fighting for territory in the yard,” she said, expressing a concern of the spread of rabies. “What if a child ends up playing with one of those cats?”

Council members agreed that the property and others have been a source of contention and weighed options such as having it torn down or mowing the lot and then billing the owner.

They said any action taken, however would have to follow a consistent policy that would be applied fairly.

In other business, the council:

voted 4-0 to approve the clerk to pay $1,000 to Union Township for their annual clean-up;

voted to remove officer Aaron Christian, who is currently filling the duties of police chief, from the post of street commissioner and put Josh Cooper in the position.