CLAY TOWNSHIP - At the July 16 board of trustees meeting, Clay Township Board of Trustees President Dave Vore summarized a packet he and Clay Twp. Police Chief John Van Gundy prepared analyzing the question of Clay Township assuming police powers in Phillipsburg.
Earlier, Phillipsburg officials had asked trustees about the possibility of a joint district.
A major consideration is financial. Vore pointed out that the township pay for police is still lower than in some other places. He estimated if the township split the most of increased protection with the village, the township could add a full-time officer to the 8 p.m to 4 a.m. shift, the time Phillipsburg most needs coverage.
Trustee Jeff Requarth asked who is handling calls in that area now. Van Gundy said who responded depended on the locations and type of calls. For example, when the owner of the gas station discovered a skimmer on a pump, it fell within the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office's jurisdiction.
"Would we be paying for the officer's time handling calls in Phillipsburg?" Requarth also wanted to know.
Van Gundy explained the officer would be an extra township officer patrolling an area that included inside the village limits. Vore restated reservations from an earlier meeting about joint fire or police districts because such districts involve another layer of supervision. While the governing board would include township representation, he said, "We would be giving up a supervisory role over our police."
He preferred a contract, such as the township has for Phillipsburg to provide fire services to township residents. He pointed out that a contract could also specify that the township and village would not be liable for any legal problems the other encountered.
Trustee Steve Woolf said he thought the Ohio Revised Code allowed a third option.
"I understand an existing district can allow another jurisdiction to come in. Clay Township is currently a Police District," said Woolf. "If a jurisdiction contracts for services it pays its own millage, and I think that would be unfair. If it joins the other district, everyone pays the same millage."
Woolf and Requarth agreed to study the figures Vore and Van Gundy had assembled and to talk further with Phillipsburg officials.
Woolf also said the Keep Clay Clean drive to be held in the Phillipsburg Community Park from 8 a.m. to noon on Aug. 11 would offer Clay-Phil trash district residents shredding, a drug drop-off, children's car seat checks, and tire recycling.
The township also agreed to send the auditor a list of delinquent tax bulls for the second quarter of 2018, so delinquent property owners can be assessed on real estate taxes.
The township's Web site has a second URL., http//www.claytownshipohio.org/ in addition to http://www.claytownshipoffices.com/, because, Woolf said, "There are eight other Clay Townships in Ohio. People who forget to type offices now get one of the others."
The next trustee meeting is at 5 p.m. on Aug. 6 at the township building at 8207 Arlington.