Elam named permanent finance director

A day after the Coal Grove Village Council heard a presentation about police possibly using radar cameras in the village through Blue Line Solutions, a Chattanooga, Tennessee-based company, Ironton Police Chief Dan Johnson spoke to Ironton City Council about the police in the city possibly using the same technology, if passed.

Johnson said that the radar cameras clock speed and take a photo of the vehicle and license plate, which are then directly uploaded to the Blue Line Solutions servers in Tennessee for citations to be issued. The company then lets the police department know that they have citations ready, and the department can discard any of the citations if they choose to. If caught on the radar cameras, the offenders would receive a notice in the mail.

Blue Line Solutions pays for all aspects of the radar camera usage, including training, equipment and the hourly wage of the officer who is using the radar camera, allowing the department to get officers overtime or even hire another officer to strictly run the radar camera.

Johnson said there is no cost at all to the city, and that the citation fees are divided up 60/40, with the city receiving 60 percent of the fines and Blue Line Solutions 40 percent.

Johnson added that a formal presentation with a representative from Blue Line Solutions would occur at an upcoming Ironton City Council meeting for council to hear more information about using the technology.

John Elam, who has been serving as the city’s interim city finance director since former finance director Kristen Martin left the city for the same job with Ashland City Schools last year, was named permanent city finance director at the meeting on Thursday, following a search by a search committee made up of council members.

Ironton resident Brent Pyles asked council if there were any updates on the brick streets being repaired with brick due to the city’s third phase of the EPA-mandated storm/sanitary sewer separation project.

The city has an ordinance stating that any work done in the city must be replaced with what comes out. However, Tribute Contracting and Consultants, LLC, who was working on that part of the third phase of the project, said in order to replace the brick with brick, it would cost the city an additional $50,000 over the $40,000 the city had budgeted for the replacement, resulting in a stop work order. The project is being re-bid. Ironton Mayor Katrina Keith said E.L. Robinson Engineering is preparing the bids to be sent out sometime later in January.

Also at council:

• Ordinance 16-52, authorizing and directing the mayor to enter into a contract with Ironton Metropolitan Housing Authority and declaring an emergency, was adopted.

• Ordinance 16-53, an authorization with ODOT for the repaving of State Route 141, was adopted.

• Ordinance 16-54, an authorization with ODOT for the repaving of State Route 93, was adopted.

• Ordinance 16-55, authorizing and directing the mayor to execute on behalf of the city of Ironton a collective bargaining agreement between the city of Ironton and the International Association of Firefighters and declaring an emergency, was adopted.

• Ordinance 16-56, authorizing the mayor to enter into a contract for health insurance coverage for the employees of the city of Ironton and declaring an emergency, was adopted.

• Ordinance 16-57, authorizing and directing the mayor to execute an agreement with E.L. Robinson Engineering Company, Inc. regarding the design of Ironton, Walnut to Madison Street/South Ironton for the Ironton storm/sanitary sewer separation phase four and declare it an emergency, was adopted.

• Resolution 17-01, to approve then and now certificates in excess of $3,000 for payment to Tribute Contracting and Consultants and declaring an emergency, passed.