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EAST PALESTINE — Village officials have 10 people to consider for the open village manager position.
Former Village Manager Mark McTrustry resigned for personal reasons and vacated the position on Nov. 14.
McTrustry’s official resignation date was Dec. 30 but he was able to leave earlier due to accrued vacation and personal time.
During the Nov. 14 village council meeting council approved appointing Finance Director Traci Spratt to serve as interim manager until a replacement is found, or until Feb. 29, 2024, whichever comes first.
Spratt will also continue her duties as finance director.
Mayor Trent Conaway said all 10 applicants are men and of those, six are from Ohio.
The remaining four are from Indiana, Minnesota, Kansas and Maine, he said.
The resumes were given to council members at the council meeting and council is expected to deliberate in executive session at the next meeting scheduled for Nov. 28.
In other business, members of the development and finance committees have met twice to discuss a recommendation from the police and fire chiefs to implement fees for false alarms.
Fire Chief Keith Drabick and police Chief Josh Brown have both said the crews are responding to multiple false alarms, mainly at businesses that either have faulty alarms or alarms placed in the wrong area which is tripping the alarm at unnecessary times.
There are currently no fees in place.
Among the discussion has been an option for the chiefs to determine when a fee should be charged.
If implemented, a fee for false alarms would be charged to the property owner.
Brown said in a prior discussion that he believed a fee would provide incentive for property owners to fix faulty equipment or move their alarms to better locations.
Drabick has said it costs more in manpower and equipment for the fire department to respond to false alarms than it does for the police.
As such, the fees would be separate for each department if implemented.
In other matters council approved:
— Giving a second reading to legislation establishing a new contract with Municipal Attorney Dave Powers for 2023.
— Giving a first reading to legislation setting the 2023 appropriations.
— Council meetings for 2023 were scheduled for the second and fourth Monday of each month, unless otherwise specified.