Fogle new Cloverdale K-9 officer after recent changes

Thursday, August 11, 2022
Sam Fogle (here with K-9 Argo) was sworn in as the Cloverdale Police Department’s new K-9 officer Tuesday evening.
Banner Graphic/BRAND SELVIA

CLOVERDALE — With Town Marshal Steve Hibler relating that the Cloverdale Police Department has had a busy time personnel-wise, the aim recently has been to fill critical vacancies. Part of this is capitalizing on what the department has now.

“We’ve trained some really good officers,” Hibler related at the Cloverdale Town Council’s regular meeting Tuesday evening. “The bad news is, everybody wants to steal our officers, the other agencies will go with more money.”

With Virgil Lanning having moved to Tennessee for another police-related position, Cloverdale PD will still have an officer working with K-9 Argo in Sam Fogle. He was duly sworn in as such by Clerk-Treasurer Kelly Maners at the meeting.

Hibler related that other local agencies have relied on Argo for drug enforcement and tracking, as only the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office otherwise has a visible K-9 program.

Meanwhile, Hibler said that James Collings, who has worked as a school resource officer at Cloverdale Schools, went over to the Bainbridge Police Department. Deputy Marshal Cody Lindsay will take over as the Cloverdale SRO and was previously sworn in.

“I’ve had a pleasure of bringing a lot of young guys on this department,” Hibler said.

He highlighted Fogle as having put in more hours as a reserve than any other at Cloverdale, besides already being a K-9 trainer and handler and having “kicked tail” in the selection process.

Apart from Fogle and Lindsay in their new posts, Hibler said Cloverdale PD has six full-time officers and spots for 10 reserves. With most of the latter filled, three officers will be sent to prebasic training next month.

“They (reserves) play an integral part of being able to provide coverage in the town,” Hibler said, noting that Cloverdale PD is on track to have more than 4,000 calls for service this year.

In other business:

• Larry Fidler took over as the council’s president, after he nominated Councilman Greg Jay and Councilwoman Cindy Holland nominated Fidler in turn. Maners broke the tie, with Jay becoming vice president.

Fidler takes over from former Ward 2 representative Rick Dearwester, who resigned from the council prior to its regular meeting last month. The Putnam County Republican Party is to tap his replacement, with a caucus having to be held within 30 days from when the process began on Aug. 2.

• Town Manager Jason Hartman brought up that he had a meeting with a representative from CSX Corporation about the railroad track running from Stardust Hills to the downtown. He stated that CSX has no intention of abandoning this line or otherwise removing the crossing on Robert Weist Avenue.

Describing it as a “nuisance,” Hartman advocated that the railroad was not an asset to CSX and the town with trains not being able to fully access it. Hibler also related that drug activity has occurred along the line. Hartman ultimately said he wanted the issue to be given more attention.

• Hartman outlined where the town stands with two State Revolving Fund applications, one being for drinking water and the other for wastewater. They are based on preliminary engineering reports which were done by HWC Engineering.

Presenting a project priority list determined by the state, Hartman said Cloverdale’s drinking water application ranked 49 out of 61, while the wastewater application ranked 15 out of 83. He noted that as the state will announce which projects will be funded, the town will still stay in the list moving forward.

The $4.9 million wastewater project entails Lieber State Recreation Area decommissioning its treatment plant, in which water from there would be treated at a town lift station near State Road 243. As such, the town would pick up revenue.

• The council upped an allowance for Maners to pay a $12,231.96 quote for water softening chemicals. With Maners noting that it previously allowed up to $10,000, the council set the allowance at $14,000.

• The council approved a new quote from Bastin Logan Water Services for $9,662 for a new hatch and repairs for a water tank. The council previously approved a quote for $9,182 in April, with the work having been completed since.

• The council conducted its second reading and passage of Ordinance 2022-9, which specifies that utility disconnects are effective at 9 a.m. on days they take place. As such, reconnection fees are due whether or not a physical disconnect has occurred. The ordinance was brought by Hartman last month.

• The council approved for John Bailey to immediately fill a vacancy on the Cloverdale Park Board.

• The council approved to name the newly acquired drive next to McDonald’s as Bennington Way. This is after former councilman and community leader Gary Bennington, who died in January.

Town Attorney Richard Shagley joined Hibler, Maners, Hartman and councilors Fidler, Jay, Holland and Brandon Tancak for the meeting.

The next regular meeting of the Cloverdale Town Council is set for Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 7 p.m. at the Cloverdale Town Hall.

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  • That is amazing that the road is being renamed Bennington Way. He done so much for Cloverdale and was such an amazing person. Kudos to the board

    -- Posted by putnamcountyproud on Fri, Aug 12, 2022, at 12:13 PM
  • Congrats Sam

    -- Posted by fourjs on Fri, Aug 12, 2022, at 8:46 PM
  • Congratulations Sam!

    -- Posted by WONDER on Sun, Aug 14, 2022, at 12:46 PM
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