Water main break leaves messy problem

CHESTER - How to clean up a water main break that happened late Saturday was the messiest topic of discussion at Monday's Chester City Council meeting.

The break, which was discovered at approximately 10:30 p.m. at the corner of Fifth Street and Phyllis Avenue, left a large portion of that area covered in mud.

Council member Joe Geisse stated the crews who worked to fix the break were "up to their eyeballs in mud."

"People have no idea what these guys do, how hard they work," he added.

Council member and Street Department Superintendent Steve Shuman stated the department may have to shovel some of the mud before any additional cleanup action is taken.

Council member and Chester Volunteer Fire Department spokesman Brian Handley stated he will look into whether the Chester VFD can use its hoses to sweep the mess over the hillside near the Ohio River after the street department has shoveled the worst of the mud away.

In other business, council accepted the resignation of a full-time city police officer.

Mayor Ken Morris read aloud a letter of resignation from Officer Gary Conley, who stated he had accepted a position as a deputy sheriff in Brooke County.

In the letter, Conley expressed his wishes to remain as a part-time officer in Chester as his schedule allows.

"He may not have been the most popular (officer), but he was responsible for getting a lot of DUIs off of the street," Police Chief Ken Thorn said.

Conley worked with the Chester Police Department for just over one year.

After accepting the letter, council approved a motion from member Greg VanDorn to begin looking for a new full-time officer to fill the vacancy.

Council also discussed their concern with the automatic door-locking security system for the city building, after Municipal Building Manager Mike Dotson stated the doors were open during regular business hours on Thanksgiving, though the offices were closed.

Thorn stated the reason for the security woes is a 15-year-old programming server for the system, which sometimes fails to connect to the door locks.

Council discussed several options for fixing the problem, from hiring a security officer to having police officers do a walkthrough while they are in the building. However, council did not take any official action on the issue.

Morris and several residents who attended the meeting made sure to speak up in thanks to the Chester Hometown Committee for its Christmas parade and activities on Saturday and the street department for its work in cleaning up after the parade.

Thorn thanked the Hancock County Sheriff's Reserves, who he stated were a big help in keeping everyone safe throughout the day.

(Matsick can be contacted at jmatsick@reviewonline.com)