Chillicothe Council heard a long discussion on potential police hires Monday evening.
In a financial committee meeting, the auditor, mayor, police chief, and school board president contributed to the discussion.
Chair Dustin Proehl said the city would like to hire, in decreasing priority: 1 1/2 dispatchers, two police officers, create a new seargent's position and fill it, and hire two resource officers to help with city school security.
School Board President Steve Mullins said they have one school resource officer to start the year, hope to get another soon, and then a third for when the new 3-6 grade school comes online.
Mullins said he did not want the schools to take any forces away from the city.
Police Chief Keith Washburn said this all comes at a critical time, as Meth is appearing on the streets...while the opiate epidemic continues.
Proehl hopes to continue the discussion in a meeting next Monday evening.
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Chillicothe Council heard an overview of their preliminary budget, before they passed it Monday evening.
Auditor Kristal Spetnagel summarized the draft budget as balanced, with a net profit of about $12,000 for the general fund.
This is required by state law six months before the new year to help the county set their budget.
Spetnagel admitted that, with yet more new state procedures, it's hard to compare this with previous budgets.
As for the real budget, she says that's constantly being monitored month-by-month.
Kevin Coleman regularly reports on Chillicothe & Circleville councils and local culture