Bethel Park promotes two to police lieutenant
writer@thealmanac.net
Bethel Park promoted two of its police sergeants to lieutenant July 13, as part of a department-wide reshuffling due to retirements.
James “Tim” Kirsch will serve as operations lieutenant and Blake Babin will be the new administration lieutenant. Both men have been are longtime Bethel Park police officers and their start dates and salaries will be determined later.
Bethel Park will hire at least four new police officers in the next few months to replace retiring members of the force.
“I think you’ll see more activity in August and September with some new hires in the police department,” said council president Tim Moury.
The lieutenant positions have been vacant for a while, but council delayed filling them so that the new police chief could have a say in the personnel changes, Moury said.
Bethel Park hired Timothy O’Connor, a former police commander with the City of Pittsburgh, in February to be the new chief. He replaced John Mackey, who retired in October. David Rogan, who was a lieutenant, served as acting chief in the interim, but he too retired earlier this year.
In another matter, council heard from Robert McCormick of Community Impact Coalition, who wants to restore an abandoned house on Cherry Street because it was one of the original company houses in Bethel Park. He wants to convert the house to a museum to showcase local history.
But before he can do that, he needs the municipality to forgive back taxes and possibly take ownership of the property. The house was abandoned about 12 years ago and taxes haven’t been paid since then. Bethel Park School District is receptive to forgiving the largest portion of the $30,000 tax bill, McCormick said.
“It’s an historical site. We would like to open it for tours to preserve Bethel Park’s history,” McCormick said.
Council said municipal officials would research the matter and keep in touch with McCormick.
Council also hired Plavchak Construction Co. to make various improvements to the Park Avenue Field. Workers will install a covered walkway and improve the entryway for $43,900. The municipality received a grant to cover some of the cost and various private organizations who use the field will also contribute, so Bethel Park’s share should be minimal, Moury said.
Council also changed the custodian for the police and non uniform pension plans from Bank of New York Mellon to Wilmington Trust/M&T Bank.
Municipal officials reminded motorists that the project to resurface Brightwood Road will begin July 30 and will take about a month to complete. Workers will be active from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and portions of the road will be closed periodically during the project.