Published: November 13, 2009 07:59 pm      

Georgetown needs new police car

Chief asks County Council for financial help

Georgetown Police Chief Dennis Kunkel needs a new car, and he is hoping the Floyd County Council helps pay for it.

Kunkel said the car he is currently driving is a 1999 model and is probably “unsafe to be on the road.”

Kunkel said his department currently has four cars in its fleet. He said he would like to start replacing the cars with a five-year plan.

“I would like to expire some of the cars I have,” he said.

He told the council he would need $25,000 for a new vehicle with proper police lighting and equipment.

Georgetown Public Works Director Jim Reynolds confirmed that the town had put aside $11,000 for a new vehicle when asked. However, he said budgets do change.

“This isn’t the best time for Georgetown to be asking us for money because of the sewer situation,” said County Council member Larry McAllister.

County Council President Ted Heavrin told Kunkel to get on the December agenda so council members can vote on the matter.

Kunkel has been the chief at Georgetown for two months. He previously worked for the Fort Wayne Police Department.



Mills said he needs more correction officers

Floyd County Sheriff Darrell Mills informed the council that he intends to ask for seven additional correction officers early next year. He said the officers are needed since the jail is housing an average of 330 inmates a day.

However, he said he could hire all seven as part-time employees which would save the county money. He said seven full-time officers would cost around $275,000 a year, but seven part-timers would be around $118,000.

“We haven’t had a lot of turnover lately. But the part-time people would get first crack if a full-time position came open.”

The county was recently sued after an inmate hung himself, Mills said. He said extra officers are needed to help with “the liability issue.”

He also said he would like to have access cards to the City-County Building made for judges and other employees to use after hours which would help ease manpower issues.



EMA director also needs wheels

Terry Herthel, Floyd County Emergency Management director, also asked the council for money to purchase a new vehicle. Herthel said his current Tahoe has 176,000 miles. The council told him to keep looking to find the cheapest price.

Commissioners

meet Tuesday

The Floyd County Commissioners will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the commissioners room on the second floor of the City-County Building.

The commissioners are expected to vote on a request from Keith Pullium to reduce the number of the Georgetown Fire Protection District from seven members to five.