Since the recent resignation of two part-time police officers on the Bellwood police force, community officials have been busy conducting interviews and screening potential applicants for the vacancies.
Monday evening, Bellwood Borough Council took a huge step forward in the hiring of part-time officer George Swander of Altoona.
“We’re happy to add another officer onto our force,” said Bellwood Borough Councilman Fred Sweigert. “Now what we need to do is find two more part-timers and we’ll be in pretty good shape.”
Currently, Bellwood Borough employs two full-time officers, including Chief of Police Paul E. Pfahler, and five part-time officers.
According to Sweigert, nearly all applicants for the part-time police positions come directly out of the police academy.
“One good thing about this is that when they come out, a couple of their required testings are already completed,” said Sweigert.
Although criminal activity isn’t extremely high in Bellwood Borough, the police do respond to a variety of calls each month.
According to a report issued by Bellwood Mayor Jim Bonsell, the police department made 22 criminal arrests in the month of July and cited 26 motorists for traffic violations.
In the non-traffic report, police arrested seven individuals on disorderly conduct charges, one person for a violation with a paintball gun, three individuals were cited for bad checks, one man was cited for public drunkenness, two juveniles were cited for violating the curfew ordinance, one man was arrested for defiant trespassing, one man was arrested for loitering and prowling, two men were cited for criminal trespassing, two theft by deception charges were filed, one man was arrested for harassment and stalking and one man was arrested for theft from a motor vehicle.
Of the 26 traffic citations that were written, 17 were for speed limit violations, two for running stop signs, two for careless driving, two for expired inspection, one for expired registration, one for no insurance and one for a driving under the influence suspension.
In other borough business, council:
•ratified the paving agreement to have New Enterprise Stone & Lime Company include Main Street in front of McCracken’s Garage in the borough’s milling and paving contract. The cost of the work for milling, finishing, seeding and paving is $9,258.38. The additional costs will come from the borough’s liquid fuels budget.
•heard from Sweigert concerning the borough’s purchase of signs to honor the Bellwood-Antis Blue Devils’ state championship baseball team. Sweigert said he has looked into the costs of the signs, which range from $5 to $50,000. He said he didn’t make a decision as to which signs to purchase because he wanted the full council’s opinion on how much the borough should spend and which type of sign would be the best fit in the community.
Borough Solicitor Lee Oswalt said he would contact Tyrone Borough officials concerning the signs they purchased when the Golden Eagles won the football state championship in 1999.
•heard from council President Wayne Snare stating that a piece of borough property near Kelsey Road contains a dilapidated building and wanted the full council’s thoughts on what should be done with the property. Talks centered around establishing a metal sided building that would house borough equipment in the winter. The size of the property is approximately one acre. Council will continue to discuss what could become of the property and current building situation.
•heard from councilman John Gunsallus asking if anything could be done about the high cost of cable service in the borough. Snare explained there wasn’t much that could be done with the cost, which is slightly over $40, because Congress deregulated the cable industry and the price is dictated through the Altoona cable system.
“The only way around it is to get a dish or turn off the television set,” said Oswalt.
•heard from a concerned resident about safety at the old Martin baseball field. The resident claimed a youngster was hurt sliding into a base and required 24 stitches in his leg. The resident wondered if the borough could be held responsible and pay the deductible for the medical bills.
Snare explained that insurance for ballplayers is overseen by Little League Baseball out of Williamsport. He said if the resident had any further questions or concerns, to talk to the Park and Recreation Committee, which meets Aug. 20.
The next meeting of the Bellwood Borough Council is scheduled for Sept. 1 at 6:30 p.m.
