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Council restructures Roanoke police dept.

The Roanoke Police Department was restructured after the Roanoke Town Council voted in a new town marshal on Tuesday, March 1.

Jim Wood was named marshal for Roanoke, after former Town Marshal Kip Rupert resigned his position the week prior for a job at Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne.

The council approved Wood's nomination, 4-0. Councilman Nick Altman was not present at the meeting.

"All my interactions with [Wood] have been positive," Council Vice President John Stoeckley said.

Wood will receive a pay increase as the new marshal, and the council voted to give pay increases to part-time reserve officers for the RPD.

Because the police department will not be hiring an additional full-time officer, Council President Troy Karshner moved to raise the pay for part-time deputies from $15.45 per hour to $16.25 per hour. The council passed the measure, 4-0.

Although the pay is increased, Roanoke will have the same level of police protection while lowering the cost to the town, council members said.

In other business, the council:

• Voted to move forward with a new fire truck purchase. Funding for the $213,000 truck has been budgeted, and will come from a specific line item, as well as $35,000 from the department's cumulative capital fund. The new truck will be paid off within seven years.

Until the proposal for the $35,000 from cumulative capital, the council was uncertain of how to proceed, given financial burdens encumbered over the past year.

"I'm concerned...that we've not heard back from IDEM about the Commercial Street time extension," said Councilwoman Ann O'Briant, referencing the unexpected additional expense of the Posey Hill project conflicting with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management-mandated sewer project for the town.

• Reviewed proposed changes to the Roanoke Design Guidelines. The council will further discuss adopting the changes at its next meeting.

• Approved street closings for events in 2011. Sections of Main Street in downtown Roanoke will be closed on June 11, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. for the Roanoke Antique Show and Ice Cream Festival; July 2-3, from 6 p.m. July 2 to 11 p.m. July 3, for the Roanoke Patriotic Pops Concert; Saturday mornings from July 10 through Sept. 11, for the Roanoke Farmers Market; Aug. 21, from noon to 5 p.m. for the Taste of Roanoke festival; Oct. 9, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. for the Art Renaissance in Roanoke festival; and Dec. 2, from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. for Christmas in the Village.