New Cloverdale town marshal looks to make improvements

CLOVERDALE -- The new Cloverdale town marshal was busy during his first month on the job.

Town Marshal Michael Clark came before the Cloverdale Town Council Tuesday evening to update the progress he has made with the Cloverdale Police Department.

"A lot of things have happened in my first month," Clark said.

Among the major issues that occurred, officer Kenny Hirt recently resigned. Clark began the application and interview process and chose to hire from within, reserve officer James Martin.

Clark also informed the board that he has applied for two grants in hopes of purchasing hand-held license scanners and printers for the cars, which will be used for accident reports, tickets and running driver's license checks.

The process of building a website for the police department has also begun, www.cloverdalepd.com. The site will have email addresses for each officer as well as information about the department.

Clark also advised the council he is also working on a new website for the town, www.cloverdalein.com. The site will also offer email addresses for several of the town employees.

The issue of the cars once again came up and the council after several months of discussion has chosen to lease three new cars.

"I'm finding out, our cars are in bad shape," Clark said. "I want to get us to where we have the equipment we need. The Tahoe is the only car we have that is in reasonably good shape."

The total for the two cars that the town originally agreed to lease came to an estimated total of $82,272.40, which includes equipment and markings.

Clark came before the council and was also approved to lease a third car, which Clark estimated to cost $35,000-$36,000, including all the markings as well as the equipment. Reserve officers will use the third car.

"I want to get us to where we have the equipment we need to be safe," said Clark.

The issue of the insurance money that was received after an accident was again brought up. Clerk-Treasurer Cheryl Galloway informed the council that the money was used in the general fund when it was previously in the hole.

However, it had been previously stated by former Town Marshal Jon Chadd that using the insurance money for something other than police business is not allowed.

The council also decided to donate the used cars to the Law Enforcement Academy. Although the academy is unable to purchase the car off the town, Cloverdale Police Department will be given a certain amount of hours for training at the academy as a form of payment.

Clark noted that he is making an effort to get the police department to a place where the town will never have to purchase more than one car at a time, which will be done by having a routine maintenance schedule.

Utility Manger Richard Saucerman came before the council to also discuss some of the repairs that are needed on utility vehicles.

The council decided that Saucerman could move forward with repairing the 2007 Ford F-550 dump truck, which needs tie rods and an oil change at a cost of $781.99.

Saucerman also brought up the issue of the manhole at the American Legion, which has had infiltration problems for quite some time. The council was informed that the manhole has a foot and a half of grit in it and that the outgoing line is higher than the incoming line.

Saucerman was unable to provide the council with a firm quote for how much it will cost to fix the issue, but the council stated that it hopes to move forward with addressing the issue within the next month.

An estimated figure is expected to be given by Saucerman during the special meeting, which will be held by the council within the next two weeks.

Building Inspector Mark Cassida came before the council for advice on how to move forward with the property at 602 N. Main St.

The property had been previously foreclosed on and went to a sheriff's sale. However, the Putnam County courts recently overturned the sale and thus the original owner is still responsible for the property.

The council determined that Town Attorney Alan Yackey would reach out to the owner via letter in hopes of getting a response. If that fails, legal action will begin.