After meeting in executive session for the better part of an hour, Bridgeport City Council reconvened in regular session Monday evening to take action on an agreement to purchase five acres of property on Route 131 from the Benedum Airport Authority.

 

Council Member Jeff Smell proposed a motion that the agreement be approved, contingent upon review of an appraisal as the city deems necessary. Council Member Dustin Vincent added that such language will be added to the proposed agreement by City Attorney Dean Ramsey. The motion was passed by Council, but Recorder Hank Murray - acting on behalf of Mayor Bob Greer, excused from the meeting due to an out-of-town engagement - made it clear that the agreement is just the first step in the property purchase with many more steps to follow. Councilor John Wilson provided an explanation.

 

“…This is an agreement between two parties to show intent and interest to buy this property,” he said. “Many, many conditions have to be complied with prior to the actual real estate closing on the property and city staff has been diligent in advising Council of the needs of the various departments within the city which will utilize this property.”

 

The agreement, Wilson said, implies interest of the city to purchase the property and interest of the Benedum Airport Authority to sell the property, located just across Route 131 from the entrance to Bridgeport Recreation Complex.

 

The city has been pursuing the property for the past few years for a three-fold purpose: To eliminate an eyesore and make the acreage functional, to use for storage of city equipment and supplies and to also potentially implement additional parking for large events held at the Rec Complex. 

In other business, Council approved the reappointment of Bridgeport resident and attorney John R. “Jack” Merinar, Jr. to the Bridgeport Utility Board. Merinar has served on the board for the past few years and will now serve for an additional five-year term.

 

The remainder of Monday night’s Council session was comprised of awards and presentations. First, the GFWC Bridgeport Women’s Club was provided a proclamation, declaring April 24, 2017 GFWC Federation Day. Several members of the active service organization, including Co-Presidents Barbara Wilburn and Brenda Swiger were on hand to accept the proclamation which was read and presented by Murray.

 

Members shared several upcoming events, including an April 29 card party at the Benedum Civic Center and June 10 golf tournament at Bel Meadow Country Club – both fundraisers for the club’s service projects. Also scheduled is a May 16 Meet the Candidates forum to be held at Benedum Civic Center. A former City Council member, Allen shared the importance of the public forum in introducing candidates and their stand on various city issues. The municipal election is June 13. Running for mayor are Diana Cole Marra and Andy Lang. Vying for two seats on City Council are Bob Greer, Dustin Vincent and Kerry Hess. 

 

 

Bridgeport Police Chief John Walker and Officer Bart Sayers presented a number of awards to the city’s Volunteers in Police Services. The first round of awards were presented by Sayers, the department’s liaison to the VIPS, to all members of the volunteer organization, which assists the police department by performing various duties – from traffic control to fingerprinting. (See those presentations in the video below.)

 

Also presented were U.S. Presidential Service Awards.

 

“This is a premier volunteer awards program which encourages citizens to live a life of service through presidential gratitude and national recognition,” Walker said. “We encourage our residents to take a look around, be inspired and take positive action that changes the world.”

 

Eligibility is based on hours served and age of the volunteer, Walker said.

 

“Hours are measured during a 12-month period and the awards are designed on accumulative hours,” he said. “There are multiple levels, designed to recognize each milestone of service achievement – bronze, silver, gold and the highest honor – a lifetime achievement award for more than 4,000 hours of service. For this ultimate honor, recipients receive a personalized certificate, official pin and a congratulatory letter from the president of the United States.”

 

Presidential Service Awards sets volunteers apart from their peers, Walker said.

 

“It’s a tremendous honor. Even though they may not have sought recognition, their examples deliver a powerful message of encouragement for others to take action,” he said.

 

Receiving bronze awards were Lois Jenkins for 123 hours, Lori Baxter for 152 hours, Robert Jordan for 155 hours, Adam Walker for 200 hours and William A. Gibson for 204 hours. Silver awards were earned by Frank Perris for 283 hours and Mike Craft for 469 hours. Receiving the only gold award was Kerry Hess, who clocked 1,229 hours of service in 2016.

 

This is the first year for Presidential Service Awards to be presented to Bridgeport VIPS. Had hours been logged during the early years of the VIPS program, the organization’s senior member, Marvin Shelton, would most likely have received a lifetime achievement award, Walker said. He asked Shelton, who is responsible for implementing the program in Bridgeport, to share that story with Council and the public.

 

Shelton is the founding member of the Bridgeport Emergency Services Council, established in 2002 under Police Chief Jack Clayton. In that capacity, Shelton suggested that the police department draft some volunteers to perform duties, freeing up police officers for more vital duties.

 

“And that’s how the program got started,” he said. “We started off calling ourselves CAPS – the Citizens Auxiliary Patrol – but when the new chief (Walker) came along, we discovered that in order to get funding out of Washington, we had to change our name to VIPS. We started off with just two and now we have 26 and we’re going to be adding eight more. It’s been a real pleasure.”

 

The eight new members are currently attending training sessions and next month will graduate, thereby becoming official VIPS. 

 

Director of Bridgeport Public Library Sharon Saye provided her department’s annual report to Council; a presentation which encompassed her 45 years in that capacity. Read more about her report later this week on Connect-Bridgeport.

 

Also Monday night, Council heard from the Harrison County Board of Education regarding the forthcoming construction of a new Johnson Elementary School. (Read about that HERE.)

 

Recorder Hank Murray honored former U.S. Marine, World War II hero and two-time Purple Heart recipient  Zeke Trupo, who this week passed away at age 97. He was laid to rest today at Bridgeport Cemetery after a service at All Saints Catholic Church and procession across the Zeke Trupo Bridge on Lodgeville Road. 

 

“The city lost a fine war hero and former City Council member,” Murray said. “He will truly be missed.”

 

(Read Jeff Toquinto’s story HERE.)

 

City Manager Kim Haws spoke about the current water/sewer line upgrade project, which will be ongoing for the next couple of months. To date, work is only being done during nighttime hours to reduce traffic woes, but combined with I-79 construction and CSX maintenance, traffic has indeed been affected. (Read more HERE.)

 

Following Monday night's meeting, Bridgeport Police Department hosted a cake and coffee reception for members of the VIPS organization.