Butler County Board OKs sale of police equipment

Butler County is set to potentially sell more police equipment to the newly-formed David City Police Department.

The Butler County Board of Supervisors approved at its regular meeting March 20 the sale of seven surplus items from the Butler County Sheriff's Office.

Previously, a handful of other items – including a 2019 Chevy Tahoe, three vests, a laptop, a handgun, taser and other things – were transferred to the City of David City in February.

The board OK'd on March 6 the potential $10,000 sale of a fully equipped 2019 Ford Explorer to the city, pending the David City Council's approval.

District 7 Supervisor and Board Chairman Anthony Whitmore said the law enforcement committee met recently and reviewed additional equipment from the sheriff's office that could be sold.

Among the items, Whitmore said, were a body camera, taser, handgun and long gun. He added the city is considering the hire of another former deputy as a part-time police officer.

"The main items that are actually worth money that aren't getting outdated or going to be phased out are the taser, the handgun and the long gun," Whitmore said.

The city came up with the price of $1,250 for the total seven items.

"They said this is the last of what they're going to be requesting from us," he added.

Currently, Whitmore noted, the sheriff's office is a seven-man department. Sheriff Tom Dion does want to hire an additional deputy, which would bring it to an eight-man operation. Whitmore said the sheriff's office would still have some extra equipment, even if an eighth deputy were to be hired.

Dion expressed concern over selling too much of their equipment.

"You've got a couple extra now because of the size your department," Whitmore said. "If your department was to increase by one, then you'd have one extra. As of right now you've got two extra just because of where you're at."

When talking about the sale of the 2019 Ford Explorer, Dion noted the sheriff's office has a vehicle in which the turbo went out. They're having trouble finding the replacement part, Dion added, and that 2019 Ford Explorer will need to stay with the county, though supervisors later explained they already approved for that Explorer to be sold.

If the part can be found, Dion said, it will cost $1,500 to $3,000 to replace it, and that vehicle is scheduled to be replaced anyway. The newly-hired deputy would use one of the new Explorers, he added.

"That takes us down to the Dodge Charger … that's my last car, that would be the eighth deputy," Dion said. "That means I would have zero cars at this point."

Whitmore noted the county wants all of the police vehicles being utilized and not sitting unused.

"If I need to replace a car, who knows when that car is going to be in. It could be a year, depends on when we can order one and get one in," Dion said.

Supervisors also noted they haven't approved the hire of an additional deputy, with District 5 Supervisor Jan Sypal noting that matter should be looked at when budgeting time comes around in the coming months.

Dion responded that he is planning for the future. He also indicated the sheriff's office will attempt to replace the turbo in the vehicle that's broken down.

The board approved the sale of the equipment, with the understanding that this would be the last time.

The David City Council had on the agenda for its March 22 meeting the purchase of the fully equipped 2019 Ford Explorer and this round of equipment.

In other business, supervisors approved the write-off of two old QuickBooks accounts from the sheriff's office.

Alexis Buresh, office manager at the sheriff's office, brought the matter before the board on Feb. 6. Buresh had cited the issue as "bad bookkeeping," with several things being entered as invoices when they shouldn't have been.

They were mostly small amounts with the largest amounts being payments from the villages of Rising City and Bellwood. While tracking down proof of payments for the large amounts, it was discovered that the Village of Bellwood had missed a payment. The matter had been tabled until the last payment was made.

At the March 20 meeting, officials noted this missed payment had been made.

Buresh said the auditor is asking the county to write off the remaining balances -- $4,897.78 in one account and negative $310.87 in the other. Any money in those accounts will be transferred to the county's general fund, she added.

"Every year, the audit brings up these old QuickBooks and it will, unless we write them off," Whitmore said.

Supervisors approved writing off the remaining balances. The board will later pass a resolution to close the two old QuickBooks accounts at a later meeting.

The Butler County Board of Supervisors also:

Held discussion on possibly looking for a new health insurance provider after hearing a number of complaints from employees on current provider Aetna denying claims. The issue appears to be Aetna automatically recognizing the county's health reimbursement arrangement plan as secondary insurance and denying the claim. The board noted doing some paperwork ahead of time would prevent claims from being denied and indicated it would be a good idea for an insurance representative to educate employees on the new process.Approved setting a bid opening date of April 17 at 9:30 a.m. for two bridges, one located on 23 Road between T and U roads and the other on 27 Road between R and S roads.Held further discussion on possibly creating zoning in Butler County. As discussed at previous meetings, the county would need to hire a consultant, create a comprehensive plan and establish a zoning committee. Supervisors decided to talk to other counties who have zoning and are about the same size as Butler County to get their thoughts on establishing zoning. The matter is to be placed on the agenda at a later meeting.