The Village of Holland has a new police chief.
At the April 16 meeting, council–at the recommendation
of Mayor Ryan Spangler– appointed Interim Chief Jim Piotrowski as the new chief of police.
The mayor commended Piotrowski’s service as interim chief following the retirement of Chief Bob Reed.
“He has done a great job filling in. I want him to continue to progress the department,” the mayor said.
He noted Chief Piotrowski has formed a tight bond among department members, calling it a “vast improvement.” The chief will receive a revised salary of $39.15 per hour effective April 28.
In addition, council approved a motor vehicle policy with the police chief, which authorizes him to have a village- owned vehicle.
Mayor Spangler believes the chief should have a car given he is “on call 24/7.”
He added, “We do already have the vehicle, and the chief did not ask for it, but I think it’s important.”
Following councils’ vote, Chief Piotrowski was administered the oath of office by Paul Skaff, village solicitor. His wife Amy then pinned on the chief’s badge and his children placed the eagle pins on his collar.
“This is a great moment for me,” Chief Piotrowski said. “I really appreciate this opportunity to serve the village.”
In other police department business, council approved an agreement with Springfield Local Schools to provide the district with a school resource office at the middle school.
“This has been a work in progress for a couple of months,” the mayor said, adding this move “reconnects a bond” with the district. “I fully support this.”
Chief Piotrowski thanked council for approving the SRO, noting he looks forward to Todd Shelton, the new SRO, having a positive impact
on students.
In addition, they elevated the department’s administrative assistant, Sadie Perry, to full-time status at the new hourly rate of $20.10, effective April 28.
Wage Adjustments
Council approved adjustments to wages for all positions in the village effective April 28.
Mayor Spangler said the wage adjustments are needed “to reflect their work and to be in line with the market pay rates in like communities.”
He believes the adjustments will help with recruiting of new police officers and retaining of maintenance personnel.
•Police–chief, $38 starting, $39.15 after one year, $40.30 after two years, $41.50 after three years and $42.75 after four years; sergeant, $34.50 starting, $35 after one year, $35.50 after two years, $36 after three years and $36.50 after four years; officer, $27.25 starting, $28.50 after one year, $29.75 after two years, $31 after three years, $32.50 after four years.
•Maintenance–superintendent, $30.80 starting, $31.30 after one year, $31.80 after two years, $32.30 after three years, $32.80 after four years; assistant superintendent, $29.30 starting, $29.80 after two years, $30.80 after three years, $31.30 after four years; maintenance worker 1, $23.25 starting, $24.50 after one year, $25.75 after two years, $27 after three years, $28.50 after four years; and maintenance worker 2, $16 starting, $16.85 after one year, $17.70 after two years, $18.55 after three years, $19.40 after four years.
•Office–clerk/treasurer, $26.10 starting, $27.50 after one year, $28.90 after two years, $30.35 after three years, $31.90 after four years; administrative assistant, $21.85 starting, $23 after one year, $24.15 after two years $25.35 after three years, $26.60 after four years and add $2.50 per hour for zoning administrator duties; office assistant, $19.10 starting, $20.10 after one year, $21.10 after two years $22.10 after three years, $23.20 after four years.
Council also approved a longevity payment for all fulltime employees who completed one full year of continuous fulltime service with the village as of December 31.
Those payments will be made annually in January and are based on years of service as follows: one to four years, $750; five to nine, $1,500; 10 to 14, $2,000; 15 to 19, $2,500; 20 to 24, $3,000; 25 to 29, $2,500; 30 to 34, $4,000, and 35 or more years, $4,500 Other Business
In other business, council:
•Awarded the bid for the McCord Road resurfacing project to Kleinfelder for $379,364.
Although the bid was over the engineer’s estimate of $353,500, it still came within the 10 percent acceptable margin, said Bob Bethel, administrator.
•Accepted the Lucas County 911 program plan. The mayor said the plan’s approval is required by statutory law and will have no impact on what the village pays for the service.
•Approved the county’s solid waste management plan.
According to the mayor, legal counsel has reviewed the plan which is incompliance with Ohio EPA regulations.
•Continued to look at options for village branding logos. Most of council favored one that featured a train.
“I like the train. It’s iconic and the center of the village,” said Councilman Nate Gaubert.
Councilman Mike Bettinger pointed out that the windmill has always been the symbol and is used on school yearbooks.
•Heard from Councilman Bettinger that he and the administrator met with library officials to review plans for the library’s planned expansion.
“I didn’t like any of their options, so I drew up some new plans,” the councilman said.
The men said library officials seemed receptive to their changes and plan to have their engineers look them over.
“They seemed very open to it” Bethel said, adding that the expansion project is still at least a year out.
•Set summer meeting dates for the third Tuesday of each month, June 18, July 16 and August 20.
•Paid bills of $634,478 which included revenue sharing disbursements to Springfield Township for the joint economic development district and the joint economic development zone.
The next village council meeting will be at 6 p.m., Tuesday, May 7, in council chambers, 1245 Clarion Avenue, and is open to the public.
~Jane Maiolo
