{"id":180758,"date":"2024-06-24T22:05:26","date_gmt":"2024-06-25T03:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=180758"},"modified":"2024-06-24T22:07:15","modified_gmt":"2024-06-25T03:07:15","slug":"idea-to-merge-pd-sheriffs-office-rejected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2024\/06\/24\/idea-to-merge-pd-sheriffs-office-rejected\/","title":{"rendered":"No-go on local merger suggestion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A suggestion to combine the Van Wert Police Department and the Van Wert County Sheriff\u2019s Office and build a facility for the two law enforcement agencies was quickly shot down Monday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During a nine minute Committee of the Whole meeting, First Ward Councilman Jeff Agler shared his idea and said the combined agencies could save money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo me with the money you\u2019d save with payroll alone because you\u2019d need half the dispatchers, he said. \u201cIt would divide the cost up between the two, the heat, the rent, the maintenance and equipment and with the savings, it would pay for the building.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Councilman Jeff Agler suggested combining the Van Wert Police Department and the Van Wert County Sheriff’s Office. Scott Truxell\/VW independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

He also suggested a new building could be constructed as the site of the former Van Wert Inn on N. Washington St., but it was pointed out that land has been sold and will soon be developed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At-Large Councilman Jeff Kallas questioned how many positions would actually be saved because the same number of calls would still come in, and Van Wert Police Chief Doug Weigle said he has no interest in the idea and said he talked to Sheriff Tom Riggenbach, who also had no interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe just renovated the whole department the last two years and we\u2019ve spent quite a bit of money to do that,\u201d Weigle said. \u201cI would think it would be about a $10 million project.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weigle also noted the two departments have different systems and equipment. The discussion ended shortly after the chief\u2019s comments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During council\u2019s regular meeting, an ordinance that would have eliminated council committees failed. The vote was 4-2 in favor, but it needed a minimum of six yes votes. The measure actually required a re-vote Monday night. The initial vote was 6-0, but Councilwoman At-Large Judy Bowers and Third Ward Councilwoman Julie Moore mistakenly cast yes votes. Both have been opponents of the legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

During his report to council, Safety-Service Director Jay Fleming said road work along Leeson Ave. has temporarily slowed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not much activity there this week and probably part of next week,\u201d he explained. \u201cThe contractor has held up here for 5-7 days to go do some other work while we\u2019re waiting on water fittings that have yet to arrive. The sanitary work is done and 90 percent of the storm (sewer) work is done, so around the Fourth of July they\u2019ll start to install water services.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Council tabled a pair of medicinal marijuana dispensary ordinances, but approved an ordinance allowing Law Director John Hatcher to move from the Municipal Building to space at Van Wert Municipal Court, and council members heard the first reading of an ordinance would allow the city to make announcements and notifications electronically on the city\u2019s website, instead of a print newspaper.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent editor A suggestion to combine the Van Wert Police Department and the Van Wert County Sheriff\u2019s Office and build a facility for the two law enforcement agencies was quickly shot down Monday night. During a nine minute Committee of the Whole meeting, First Ward Councilman Jeff Agler shared his idea and said the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-180758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-30 20:07:04","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180758"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180758\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":180776,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180758\/revisions\/180776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}