PERRY TOWNSHIP — Perry Township Trustee Melissa Mears announced Erica Barga as the township’s new, permanent Perry Township chief of police, during the trustees most recent meeting.

Barga, who has been serving as interim police chief, formerly served as chief of police in St. Paris.

Trustees voted to name Barga chief during a special meeting held for that purpose. She succeeds Tim Littleton, who had been chief for several years, but recently was let go.

Chief Barga announced that she had received and accepted the resignation of Officer Tina Waymire and that she would pay out Waymire’s remaining vacation and comp time.

Trustee Zach Music commented that he thought Barga had been working diligently.

“I’ll be happy to keep Chief Barga here from this point forward,” Music said. “I really couldn’t be happier with the way the police department is going and I think the residents should be, too.”

Both Mears and Music commented on a proposal the trustees had received from the village of New Lebanon a few months ago to provide police protection to Perry Township, which would have meant dissolving the township’s police department.

During his trustee report, Music said he had reached out to some of the township’s police officers and they told him there is a much better policing plan in place now than before.

“I think that’s the end of me looking into any proposal from New Lebanon,” said Music.

“I’ve been more than pleased with the outreach from our officers and the guarantee they gave us. They want to be here. They love working in Perry Township — they have all the confidence in the world that they can work better with the budget we currently have,” Music said.

Mears, in her report, said, “So, what I have to say is, on March 13, 2023, New Lebanon sent us a press release stating that on March 14, they would be holding their monthly meeting.”

She said it had been brought to her attention that one of the major topics that would be discussed was the township trustees wanting a contract with the New Lebanon Police Department for police services.

“With the proposal from New Lebanon, we have not had a chance to discuss it. With all that’s been going on, we have never said that we were going to dissolve the police department,” Mears said.

“We have our own Perry Township Police Department and it’s not going anywhere,” she said.

Financial Officer Charity Grill told trustees all donations made to the annual Easter egg hunt have been refunded.

Roads and Cemeteries Superintendent Calvin Hoops reminded anyone visiting graves on Memorial Day at any of the township cemeteries to keep items off the grassy areas.

“Place flowers and all the decorations only on the headstone — they are not permitted in the mowing lanes during March 1 through Oct. 1,” Hoops said.

The next regular Perry Township meeting will be at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, June 13, at the Perry Township Administration Building, 3025 Johnsville Brookville Road, Brookville.