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E-mailBuffalo's K-9 officer ready to take a bite out of crime
Buffalo Township's K-9 officer is ready for duty next week.
Supervisors last night formalized the responsibilities for officer Richard Baney and his companion. Baney will attend four hours of paid schooling each Sunday to be updated on dog handling.
The three drugs the dog will be used to identify are marijuana, cocaine and heroin. As the handler, Baney will make the final decision on whether to send the dog into a building for purposes such as drug investigations or for missing-person searches after Baney issues three specific verbal warnings.
If a subject is bitten, photographs must be taken of the bite areas. The dog also will be used to aid other law-enforcement agents.
Supervisors voted 4-1 to approve the standard operating procedure. Albert Roenigk voted no after he said he didn't have a chance to review the document that was distributed during the meeting.
In other business:
• Supervisor John K. Haven thanked PennDOT for a $10,000 grant to switch the township's six traffic signals to the Light Emitting Diode (LED) format, reducing the monthly electric bill by as much as 75 percent. Supervisors are working with Brander Electric Co. to try and get a LED traffic signal when the renovated Freeport Bridge is completed along old Route 28.
• An agreement with T.W. Phillips Gas & Oil Co. was ratified that would allow the utility a right of way along the Butler-Freeport Community Trail for $4,960. The money will be assigned to the trail's escrow fund.
• Supervisors are waiting an appraisal of the old Oregon Club property by Czekalski Real Estate before looking at ideas on redeveloping the site. Chairman Daniel Przybylek and Haven also met with Ken Hawker of Interstate Acquisitions concerning property where the renovated Freeport Bridge will end near the Dugout Tavern. Interstate, located in Pittsburgh's Strip District, develops restaurants, hotels, movie theatres and retail establishments.
• The township will be adding a bronze plaque to the World War II monument near Buffalo Elementary School. Any missing names of veterans who were Buffalo residents when deployed can be added by calling the township office at 724-295-2648.
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