Community Pride, Fire Civil Service, New VIPS Members All Topics of Monday's Bridgeport City Council Meeting
By Julie Perine on January 22, 2015 via Connect-Bridgeport.com
Monday night’s Bridgeport City Council meeting will kick off with the presentation of the city’s 2015 Community Pride Award to local businessman, Mark Carder. The owner of Bridgeport’s Carder Motors has been in the business for more than 20 years and has owned other used vehicle dealerships in the area.
The Community Pride Award used to be an annual occurrence, but hasn't been presented in the past several years, said City Clerk Andrea Kerr. It was decided that the recognition should be brought back.
"Mark Carder is receiving this award because he has expanded his current business in Bridgeport, along with updating other buildings," she said. "His facilities are a beautiful, welcome addition to Main Street and City Council would like to recognize him for his efforts."
As the new business portion of the meeting gets under way, Council will consider and act on the appointment of Lisa McKitrick and Carole Kinard as ballot commissioners for the 2015 Bridgeport Municipal Election, to be held June 9. Both McKitrick and Kinard have served in that capacity many times in the past, said Bridgeport City Clerk Andrea Kerr. The appointment is a formality. State code policy requires that ballot commissioners, as well as poll workers, be approved by Council prior to each election, she said.
The next item of business slated for Monday’s meeting is the consideration and reappointment of Pete Conley to the Bridgeport Fire Civil Service Commission for a term of four years. A Bridgeport native and Bridgeport High School graduate, Conley practices law with the firm of Siegrist & White PLLC in Clarksburg.
Three new members of VIPS – Volunteers in Police Services – will be sworn in Monday night. Those individuals are Frank Perris, Richard Snell and Stephen McCarty, all who have completed appropriate training and met requirements to serve in that capacity.
“Stephen has served as a VIPS for us for a while, but with his work schedule we’ve never been able to get him sworn in,” said Laura Pysz, emergency management coordinator. “The other two went through the training academy last spring and have completed other training they had to go through, including driving hours which had to be logged. So they finished everything up this fall.”
McCarty is already an active member of VIPS, working events and helping with fingerprinting, Pysz said. He, Perris, Snell and all members of Bridgeport VIPS will continue to assist the Bridgeport Police Department and therefore the community through various responsibilities, Pysz explained.
“They patrol – making sure neighborhoods are safe. They check on parking and work events, such as football games,” she said. “They help us close off roads if necessary and go on accident scenes, directing traffic so police offices will be freed up. They also help with administrative duties, such as fingerprinting, on Wednesdays.”
Monday’s Bridgeport City Council meeting will also feature reports from Mayor Robert Greer and City Manager Kim Haws, as well as any pertinent budget revisions and/or authorizations. It deemed necessary, the city’s governing body will meet in executive session following the regular 7 p.m. meeting. Members of the public are encouraged to attend the meeting, which will be held in Bridgeport Council Chambers in the city’s municipal building, located on West Main Street.
