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GOSHEN CENTER -- Goshen Township trustees this week approved a new police contract with Beloit.
Trustees approved the three-year contract to provide police protection effective May 1, 2021 through April 30, 2024 at $45,000 per year in monthly payments of $3,750. The previous contract was for $29,500 per year, but trustees said they were losing money by providing police protection at that cost.
Trustees also approved a mutual aid contract with the Columbiana County Sheriff's Office. The contract means Goshen police can respond to incidents in the Butler Township portion of Damascus. The township will also have closer access to the Columbiana County Special Response Team than the one in Mahoning County.
Additionally, trustees accepted the resignation of part-time officers Chris Weingart, Troy Mackall and Nicholas Brent. Each has a full-time position with another department and cannot fill the required one shift per month to remain on the roster.
In other business, the trustees agreed to ask the Mahoning County Township Trustees Association to seek a base payment of $50,000 from a proposed .25 percent additional sales tax that would generate $8 million specifically for road maintenance.
Trustees last month expressed support for placing the tax on the ballot and letting residents decide. The proposed split of the money at that time called for an even split between the county and the townships, with $4 million going to the engineer's office to fix county roadways and $4 million shared among the townships. The money going to the townships would be divided based on road mileage, which would generate $147,358 for Goshen.
Trustee John Bricker, however, reported the trustees association recently met and discussed a possible split of the township money with $50,000 going to each township and the remainder divided based on road mileage, which would generate $171,570 for Goshen.
Bricker said the new proposal would favor townships with less road miles, such as Jackson Township which has no township miles but still needs curb repairs and lighting projects completed.
The township association will meet again Thursday with trustee Shawn Mesler representing the township. Whichever proposal the association decides upon will then be presented to the county commissioners for consideration to place on an upcoming ballot.
In another matter, trustees accepted the bid of $136,622 from Barbicas Construction in Akron to pave the stretch of Smith-Goshen Road between state Route 165 and Middletown Road. It was the lowest of six bids the trustees received for the project, which also includes open ditches on both sides of the road that will collect surface water.