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Article published August 18, 2010
COUNCIL SEAT Seven Fields gets spot on police panel
SEVEN FIELDS — The borough will gain a seat on Cranberry Township's police advisory council and will take part in the hiring of prospective officers seeking employment with Cranberry. Seven Fields last year signed a five-year contract for Cranberry to provide it with police services, a contract that includes a two-year option that could extend police coverage until the end of 2016. The borough paid Cranberry almost $307,000 this year for police coverage, or 8.1 percent of the police department's total budget. While Cranberry's police budget increases every year, the percentage paid by Seven Fields decreases each year under the new agreement. For example, the borough will pay Cranberry $397,000 in 2016 if the two-year option is agreed upon at the end of the five-year contract, which would be about 6.8 percent of Cranberry's expected budget, said borough manager Tom Smith. Council on Aug. 9 appointed councilman Bob Messina to the police advisory council, and Smith said council thought it was only fair that someone in Seven Fields have a seat on the council. "With the amount of money Seven Fields is expending on an annual basis for police services, we wanted some form of voice in the process," the borough manager said. "It was crucial in negotiations (for a new contract) that Seven Fields has someone at the table, a fair representation." Cranberry manager Jerry Andree said the current advisory council has seven members and it deals only with the interview process for hiring new officers. He is happy to invite someone from Seven Fields to the committee so that both municipalities have a voice in the process. "The council is purely advisory with a primary purpose to assist in the interview process of new officers," Andree said. "This was part of our agreement with Seven Fields that they will help us look at the best the candidates in the hiring process."
