Village disbands police department

CASTALIA — In less than a month, Castalia's police department, which has been in existence since at least the 1940s, will be no more. The village's five council members — council president Nancy Bath and members Kevin Nemitz, Kent Miller, Georgia Artrip and Si Nicholson — unanimously voted on Tuesday to disband the village's department of nine part-time officers plus the chief and to enter a contract with the Erie County Sheriff's Office for police services. The decision to disband the department came after police chief Ken Majoy, who's been in that position since 2000, recently announced his retirement, effective May 22, according to village solicitor Randy Strickler, who said the village was having difficulty funding the department. The village "has an approximately $400,000 to $500,000 budget and is spending over $200,000 of that budget to operate the police department," Strickler said. "They didn't have money to do anything else like pave roads." Strickler said the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused financial strain on local governments across the country, did not play a role in the decision. "This has been an ongoing problem for the village," he said, adding that Majoy and several members of the department were present at the council meeting, but they did not get official notice of the decision until the meeting itself. Letters were sent to members of the department on Wednesday instructing them to turn in their equipment. Added Castalia village Mayor Randy Whyde: "We had meetings and did a lot of talking before our decisions." Majoy said he disagreed with the council's decision. "I have some very mixed feelings," he said. "Obviously I disagree with what they did and I disagree with the way they did it. My personal thought is, I would have thought they'd have involved the community a little bit (in the decision). Majoy continued: "You have some feelings after you've been here for 20 years. And I like this town, I really do. I care about the people in this town. I don't know, I just didn't feel very good about it." The department's employees will be laid off when the department is officially disbanded at the end of the day, May 22, coinciding with Majoy's retirement. Contract with the sheriff When the contract with the county sheriff's office — a four-year deal — begins on May 23, the following will go into effect, according to Erie County Sheriff Paul Sigsworth: • All Castalia police department assets — vehicles, firearms, etc. — will be turned over to the sheriff • The Castalia Police Department building, at 126 Main Street, will be given to the sheriff's office to use as a substation • All surplus funds generated from the Castalia police levy for 2020 will be given to the sheriff's office. After 2020, all revenue generated from the police levy — according to Strickler, about $30,000 annually — will be reimbursed to the sheriff's office Sigsworth said his department already provides law enforcement services in the village. "Right now we currently, on a daily basis, provide policing and services to the village when they don't have an officer working," he said. "That will not change, that service will be provided for years for no additional compensation." Sigsworth added: "If there's a domestic violence call or a crash, we can assign as many deputies from the general patrol as we need to (respond to a call in the village)." The sheriff's office has one deputy assigned to patrol in the area around the village already, and with the levy money they will assign deputies to patrol in the village itself. The contract was signed Wednesday afternoon, Sigsworth said. "We're glad to work with the village officials," he said. Erie County's commissioners are also expected to acknowledge the contract between the sheriff's office and the village with a resolution, Sigsworth said. The last time a law enforcement agency was phased out and taken over by the Erie County Sheriff's office was about five years ago with Erie MetroPark's rangers, he said. Before then, about 35 years ago, was the Vermilion Township constable. Reach reporter Brandon Addeo at brandonaddeo@sanduskyregister.com, follow him on Twitter @BrandonAddeo and follow the Register at Facebook.com/SanduskyRegister