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Roanoke council moves funds around; donates funds toward firearms simulator

The Roanoke Town Council approved the reallocation of budgeted funds within the Roanoke Police Department at its meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 18, making it possible for the town department to donate funds to the Huntington County Sheriff’s Department for the procurement of a Firearms Training Simulator (FATS).

“It’s $26,000 to $27,000 for this,” said Roanoke Town Marshal Jim Wood. “They went to all the towns and all the departments and asked us each to put $2,000 in.”

The FATS machine will provide officers with interactive simulations and help train for a variety of different situations such as shoot/no shoot, active shooter in schools and domestic violence scenarios.

After the donation of $2,000 and the procurement of a FATS machine, there will be no other or continual monetary obligations from the town departments and they will have unlimited access to the simulator for training purposes.

The donation from the Roanoke Police Department will come from surplus funds previously allocated to the department’s fuel budget.  

“At the end of this year, with our average (monthly) budget on fuel, I’m going to have $2,608 left over at the end of the year,” Wood said. “That still leaves us a $600 buffer on our average monthly fuel just in case we get a snowstorm or something in the next two months.”   

According to Wood, the reallocation and removal of the budgeted money will have no negative impact on the department or the town.

“This is something that was brought to me and the police department that I don’t want to task the town with,” Wood says. “If we couldn’t afford it, I would have told the sheriff’s department that as a department we couldn’t do it.”

In other business:

• Salary increases and possible bonuses for city employees were discussed and decided upon at the meeting.

According to Roanoke Town Council President Dave Tucker, raises were given to seven town employees for appreciated and exemplary work throughout the year and the whole their careers, and range from 1.5 to 4 percent increases to their individual salaries.

There were no bonuses given at this point in time; however, there is a $500 bonus and additional 1.5 percent salary increase available to employees in the utilities department for acquiring certain certifications deemed beneficial to their position and the town.

• Republic Services, Inc. will mail out informational flyers to town residents about the upcoming changes to their normal trash collection routines effective Jan. 1. The flyer will include the new collection day along with information on the distribution and rules associated with the new trash collection carts.

• The Roanoke Town Council has set an executive meeting for Tuesday, Dec. 6, to discuss the possibility of purchasing the land located at the corner of U.S.-24 and E900N along with the issues and concerns that may accompany such a decision.