Lakeview Village Council approved a contract with the Logan County Sheriff’s Office Monday in a regular meeting for the purpose of providing safety services for the village.
The one-year contract for a part-time coverage of the village costs $36,286.08.
Recently, council proposed the idea of reactivating its own police department for the village rather than signing another contract with the sheriff’s office.
And a majority of the nearly 50 people who were in attendance during Monday evening’s regular meeting voiced their opposition to that idea.
Councilman Frank Dietz said there were more people attending than he had seen in nine years.
Before council voted to approve the sheriff’s office contract, residents expressed that they were in favor of it and not a village police department.
Ken Carnahan said he was concerned that the village’s police department in the past was “an embarrassment to the community.
“I don’t want to see that again,” he said. Louie Henry echoed Carnahan’s sentiment.
“It’s not going to be good if we have some officers like our ex-officers used to act,” he said. “It’s not going to be a good situation around this town.”
Henry added that he thought the decision should be up to the residents as to who is their police.
Teasha Shoffstall said it was clear what residents wanted.
“Everybody in this room is for the sheriff’s (office), so, what is the problem?” she said. “We voted to put you there, but you’re not keeping the interest of the residents.”
Mayor Ryan Shoffstall said council will still be looking into a long-term solution for policing the village.
In other business, council went into executive session to discuss raises for the fire department.
Council established salaries for the following positions: $1,300 per year, fire chief; $450 per year, assistant fire chief; $300 per year, captains.