Job will be appointed and replace elected secretary-treasurer

CHESAPEAKE — The village council of Chesapeake voted on Monday to eliminate the elected position of secretary-treasurer and replace it with an appointment position of fiscal officer.

It was the third and final reading on the matter, which will take effect Jan. 1.

The council voted 5-0 to approve the change. Member Kenny Wolfe was not present at Monday’s meeting.

Templeton said the position will be appointed by the mayor and approved by council.

The village also voted 5-0 to adopt its annual budget for the coming year.

Mayor Tommy Templeton said the $479,703.47 overall total was the largest in the village’s history.

The council also discussed a matter on North Huntington Heights, where Templeton said they had received complaints about people residing full-time in two campers.

Templeton said officers had visited the campers and given the people a warning that they were violating a village ordinance that forbids residing in RVs or campers.

Templeton then asked the council to raise the fee for violation from $25 a day to $100 a day.

The council agreed in a 4-1 vote, with Richard McMaster opposing.

In other business, the council.

• Heard from Cheryl Crum, of the Chesapeake-Union Volunteer Fire Department, who said, thanks to secured grants, they are now able to outfit eight firefighters up to compliance.

She said members of the department had also taken part in Shop with a Fireman, in which  they took five underprivileged children from Chesapeake Elementary out.

“This way, they’ll be able to have warm clothes,” Crum said.

She also said the department had responded to structure fires in the past month and that some of the funds from Shop with a Fireman were set aside for a single mother with four children to get back on their feet after one of the fires.

Crum noted that the department has three new members and “three applications currently hanging.”

• Heard from the police department. Templeton read the report from interim chief Randy Thompson, who was not present.

He said TASER training has been completed for members of the department. He also noted that one officer was leaving the department to take a position with the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office.

Templeton also added that, since his term as mayor began, pay for officers had increased and that officers were patrolling the village for more hours.

He said, weekly, officers were working 135 hours, compared to 55 in 2016 and that pay had gone from $9.50 an hour to $11.50 an hour.

“That’s a three-fold increase,” he said of the hours worked.

“Thank you guys for helping me and everyone involved for moving forward with our police department,” Templeton told the council, adding that more hours would be added next year.