Reserve officers shift to full-time

For the first time since before the coronavirus pandemic, Portland Police Department will have a full staff.

Pending psychological and fitness evaluations, Portland reserve officers Brandon McDavid, 32, and Dustin Garringer, 31, will be promoted to full-time officers after Portland Board of Works gave its approve of the potential hires at its meeting Friday.

The board also tabled a vote on a bid from Wessler Engineering to repair sewer lines under Meridian Street after board members had concerns over the bid amount.

Portland Police Chief Nathan Springer and Mayor John Boggs, among others, recently interviewed McDavid and Garringer for the two full-time roles that have been vacant since longtime officers Todd Wickey and Bart Darby retired in March.

Springer held off interviewing new candidates during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, which then left the department with just 12 full-time officers, two less than it has operated with for more than a year prior to the officers retiring.

If everything goes well with evaluations, McDavid and Garringer, who have served as reserve officers since 2016, will report for full-time duty in about a month, Springer said.

“We know this community. We’re here to serve this community,” said McDavid, a Portland resident and Jay County native.

Garringer, who currently lives in Pennville and is also a native of Jay County, said he is ready to “serve and protect” the city. He has also served as a deputy for the Pennville Police Department

Springer floated the idea of moving forward with just 13 full-time officers when he approached Portland City Council for a raise at its meeting in early May.

The money set aside for a 14th officer would have been distributed evenly to the other officers for a $4,514.76 raise across the board. Discussions of a raise were tabled by the council over concerns about its budget moving forward.

The board’s last meeting May 15 included a sense of urgency from Boggs for a potential project to repair Meridian Street sewer lines which will then alleviate downtown flooding. However, the board agreed Friday it should not rush ahead with the first bid if it’s possibly more expensive than it has to be.

Board member Jerry Leonhard was the first to voice concerns over the Wessler Engineering’s bid, which includes a $21,631 field inspection cost that he said has already been done by multiple engineering firms in the past.

Boggs said he’ll set up a meeting with the engineering firm to hash out the specifics of a contract and cost.

In other business, board members Steve McIntosh, Leonhard and Boggs approved the purchase of two Ford F-250 trucks from Greg Hubler Ford in Muncie for the city’s wastewater department. The trucks will cost a combined $47,356 after trade in.