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SALINEVILLE - The non-replacement of a departing police officer caused some friction Tuesday evening between the mayor, village council and the police department.

Words were exchanged during the village council meeting after Mayor Mary Smith decided not to immediately hire a replacement for Officer Christopher Bruno, who resigned from the department this week.

"We tried to hire another officer, but the mayor put the kibosh on that as usual," Councilman Brian Zaverl said.

Smith said she was unaware there was an opening at the time until four days prior to the meeting when fiscal officer Patti Gibson texted Smith regarding an application received for a police officer's position. Smith also explained that she was trying not to violate an ordinance which designates how many officers are to be hired.

"First question I had was 'Do we have room on the roster?' You cannot exceed that ordinance, or you're in violation of breaking your own law," Smith said. "Second thing is we have had financial difficulties for years in the village. I do not know where we are financially in the police department. We have a budget we have to stick with. Every week, or quite often, the police department is getting overtime, and I do not see that."

One major concern among council and the police department was a $9,000 grant Police Chief Andy Straley received earlier this month, which would help add another officer to the force.

According to the conditions of the grant, if an officer was not hired by March 1, the village would lose out on the grant. Smith's decision, however, stood which disappointed the council and Straley.

"He worked and got us a grant," council president Sally Keating said. "If we don't get this guy hired, then we're going to lose that grant."

"The police chief told her that we have to get somebody in there or we'll have to pay a penalty," Zaverl said. "It didn't seem to phase her."

Smith said that at the Feb. 2 meeting when the grant was handed to the fiscal officer, she asked Straley if there were any conditions to the grant and was told no.

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Police position remains empty

February 20, 2015 12:00 PM

(Photo by Tim Boyle/Getty Images)

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FORDS, N.J. (CBSNewYork) Given how cold its been lately, heating and cooling experts are issuing a public safety warning for those heatingtheir homes this winter.

Airdex Heating and Cooling Company President Harvey Stoller said crews on many of their calls to fix or replace heaters have noticed a lack of carbon monoxide detectors.

He told WCBS 880s Levon Putney the detectors should be on every level of every home and every unit of every building.

None or if there are, theyre putting them in places no one would ever hear them, he said.

Stoller also said everyone should have their furnaces checked once a year, even the heating vent outside. He said ice, birds nests and other blockage can cause issues.

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Heating Expert Urges Homeowners To Install Multiple CO Detectors

The Alma School Board has authorized a $3 million bond referendum asking school district voters for permission to borrow money for school building and education technology improvements.

A referendum on the spring election ballot April 7 seeks money to install a geothermal heating and cooling system, as well as upgrades and replacements of electrical works, lighting and windows.

Money also would go for building and grounds repairs and upgrades, replacement of transportation vehicles and new technology equipment.

The school district has spent more than a year studying building energy costs and upgrades that could be made to lower expenses. A steam boiler heating system that burns fuel oil is operating at only 60 percent efficiency, according to studies. The schools heating plant system was installed 62 years ago. The most recent work on the system was done over 20 years ago.

The school board said the early 1950s boiler system was obsolete and useless in ability to apply modern automated controls for timed and building zone heating. A new heating system controlled by a computer software program could be used to control temperatures in rooms throughout the building when in use or vacant.

The school board has recommended installing a geothermal system boiler hot water heating to lower heating costs that have shot up from $24,000 to $122,000 a year since around 2000.

The school has single-pane, metal-framed windows in the high school that were installed in the 1950s and 60s. Elementary school windows were replaced with thermal-paned aluminum framed windows in the 80s.

Referendum technology improvements would include upgrading and expansion of computers used for learning by students.

The school board said technology updates were limited over the past six years because of budget constraints. The school has now fallen behind in utilizing technology for educating children, studies found.

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Alma school referendum seeks $3M for building, tech upgrades

Solar City

Solar panels have been around for a while, but they cost tens of thousands of dollars to install, making them an impossible dream for many homeowners. Solar City is one of a handful of companies in the Bay State pioneering a new way to pay for residential solar panels, which could make them more accessible.

Under the new Solar City model, homeowners pay nothing to have panels put on their roofs; the company fronts the installation cost. Solar City technically owns the panels, but sells the energy they generate to the homeowner under a type of lease agreement.

Company representatives said homeowners in Massachusetts who switched all their power usage from the standard grid to solar panels would cut their energy bills by about 45 percent. In fact, Massachusettss tax laws make it one of the most solar-friendly states in the country and can help homeowners save money.

There are a few caveats, though. Not every house can support enough solar panels to power itself, and Solar City wont install unless they think its worth it. Fortunately, though, you can get a solar quote for free. Next

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Cool, Weird and Useful Ways to Improve Your Home at the New England Home Show

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For many families, the kitchen is the hub of the home, where everyone converges every day.

Shelley and James Morgans kitchen is more than a zone for cooking. Located in the center of their Cowan Heights home, their kitchen is a busy place where they and their two elementary school-age boys sit down to have meals, where their younger son, Marcus, does his homework, and where guests gather almost every weekend for libations and good food.

To make the kitchen friend- and family-friendly, the Morgans had it professionally renovated over two months last year by architect and interior designer Carol Fox and contractor Joshua Cutler as part of a larger remodeling effort. They bought the home in 2002 and lived with a less-than-ideal kitchen for 12 years until they decided it was time to give it a makeover to suit their lifestyle.

Boy, did the space need an overhaul.

It wasnt an eating kitchen, which is really what we wanted, Shelley Morgan said. The kitchen had a center island and a peninsula that they used as a bar. But the island was too small, she said. It only sat two people. You could see that the previous homeowners tried to fudge that because one of the corners of the island was on a diagonal so you could fit a chair there. The refrigerator door opened onto that spot so if you were sitting there, youd have to have that person move. Up until we did the kitchen, James and I would bring our chairs from the breezeway so we could sit at the counter sideways and the kids would sit at the end. That was one of the things I knew I wanted to change.

Fox agreed. The previous kitchen was poorly laid out, especially for true cooks with young children who entertain a lot, she said. Access from the family room was narrow. A previous remodel tried to squeeze a small island between a peninsula and the sink wall without adequate clearances, which only made things worse in a crowd. This island cut off direct access to all of the major appliances and provided counter seating for only two. Also, there was very little counter space around the cooktop.

SUITABLE LAYOUT

Before designing the new kitchen, Fox got a wish list from the Morgans.

I wanted the entire family to be able to sit together, Morgan said. I wanted a station where the kids could do their homework and plug in their computers or mobile devices, so I could see what they were doing.

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Wait till you see what this kitchen looks like now

LONDON, February 20, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

A surge in office construction is helping to drive growth in the construction sector, according to figures released today (20th February).

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140620/693498 )

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150220/731557-INFO )

January 2015 saw a 26 per cent increase in the value of office construction projects awarded in the UK compared to the same time last year, accounting for almost three quarters (74 per cent) of the total value of all contracts awarded within the commercial and retail sector last month.

The award of major project contracts such as the 100 million development of Atlantic Square in Glasgow and the 90 million 70 St Mary's Axe scheme in London, were key contributors to the surge in activity.

The latest figures from Barbour ABI, which supplies construction data to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), Cabinet Office and Treasury, also revealed the total value of commercial and retail contracts awarded in January was 823m - a 22.7 per cent increase on January 2014.

Commenting on the findings from the latest Economic Construction Market Review, Michael Dall, lead economist at Barbour ABI, said: "The development of new office space has really gathered pace over the past 12 months and January's figures now show this dominance.

"As the UK makes its economic recovery, more and more businesses are gaining the confidence to invest in their working environments and this increasing confidence is now translating into numbers."

Other findings from the January summary include:

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Commercial Office Projects Increase by a Quarter

Upper Dublin >> Life Time Fitness, a high-end fitness center geared toward families, could be coming to the Fort Washington Office Park.

A sketch plan for a 113,000-square-foot fitness center, adjacent 53,000-square-foot outdoor pool with bistro and 604 parking spaces on 14.5 acres at the corner of Commerce and Delaware drives was presented at the Feb. 17 Upper Dublin Planning Commission meeting.

The brick, stone and glass, two-story building, with a 56,474-square-foot footprint, would house a fitness floor with more than 400 pieces of equipment, an indoor pool, caf, spa and salon and lounge areas.

The proposed facility would be a first in Pennsylvania for Life Time Fitness, a luxury health and fitness company operating 114 locations in 26 states. The closest, the 115th, is currently under construction in Mount Laurel, N.J.

We feel it would be a real boon to the Fort Washington Office Park, said Marc Jonas, the attorney representing the Minnesota-based company. Its a facility unlike anything weve ever seen.

Life Time Senior Development Manager Aaron Koehler said the company focuses on young families and was the first to move to a month-to-month contract. Numerous programs and classes are offered for adults and children you name it, weve got it as well as cycling and running clubs, he said. It also sponsors athletic events for all ages and abilities.

The company has a charitable arm that has worked with some schools on nutrition education and subsidized school lunch programs, Koehler said.

Life Time Fitness is able to compete with the Y and other fitness centers, he said, as we operate at a higher price point attract a different crowd. We tend to capture more families and expect 85 percent of members to be within a 20-minute drive and 60 percent within a 12-minute drive, he said.

For a family, the first member is $99/month, the second $85, the third $75, the fourth $60 and after that its free, Koehler said. The goal is a 7,000 membership.

The company investigated quite a while before choosing the office park location to determine who is within those drive times, he said. There are residents within the area with the income to fill our facility. Continued...

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Fort Washington Office Park may get luxury fitness center

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This building at 701 Rosser Ave. seen in April 2014 changed ownership last fall. The new owners plan to renovate the building into an engineering office and construct three apartments on a second storey, which was removed under previous ownership.

A downtown eyesore that has remained vacant and boarded up for years will be given a new lease on life.

The building at the corner of Seventh Street and Rosser Avenue has changed hands, and the new owners plan to renovate the building into an engineering office and construct three apartments on a second storey.

"Its extremely important to get something going, its a high traffic corner," said city manager Scott Hildebrand. "Now that we have a new owner and a strategy and plan going forward Im excited that we can actually get that converted and move on to the next project downtown."

The small building at 701 Rosser Ave. was formerly the Chicken Corner restaurant. In 2012, it was sold to Huangpu Assiniboine Holdings Ltd. and major renovations began, including the removal of the entire second storey.

At that time, the plan was to establish a new restaurant with a rooftop patio. But the project came to a halt and the building has sat vacant ever since.

In an effort to deal with the languishing property, the City of Brandon gave the former property owners a deadline to provide detailed drawings of their plans or else face orders through a building safety and vacant/derelict building bylaw.

Hildebrand said the property ended up changing hands last fall, and is now at the permit stage.

"Work should begin immediately if these plans are approved," he said.

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Office, apartments in works for vacant building on Rosser