Coffey asks to examine residency requirement

<span>CHESTER -- During Thursday's meeting of the Chester Police, Fire and Public Safety Committee, Chester Police Chief Ryan Coffey asked city aldermen Dan Geisen, Mike Blechle and Robert Platt to consider expanding the residency requirement for full-time officers.</span>

<span>The current requirement is within four miles of Chester City Hall. Coffey is seeking to have that expanded to the Chester school district boundaries.</span>

<span>"We have some competition around here with other agencies and I think it would be a great recruitment and retention tool," Coffey said.</span>

<span>By expanding to the school district, officers could have more options on where to live, as the school district includes the communities of Ellis Grove, Rockwood and Bremen.</span>

<span>Geisen asked about emergency response times if an officer lived in Rockwood.</span>

<span>"The relative benefits seem to outweigh the downside, which is that instance," Coffey said. "I would hate to lose an officer for this reason."</span>

<span>The committee later decided to recommend the measure to the full city council for discussion.</span>

<span>As part of his monthly report to the committee, Coffey said he has received seven resumes for the sergeant's position, with candidates scheduled to undergo written testing soon.</span>

<span>"Nearly all full-time staff have submitted resumes showing interest," Coffey said.</span>

<span>The Chester Police and Fire Commission was scheduled to discuss the testing during a meeting today at Chester City Hall. Coffey said he will be submitting a detailed list of job performance areas he will be examining, but </span>did not say what those areas are.

<span>"I want to get an honest assessment of things," he said.</span>

<span>With Chester EMA Coordinator Charlie Bargman II absent, Chester Fire Chief Marty Bert said he has received a proposal from Egyptian Asphalt and Sealcoating to seal the Chester Firehouse parking lot for a price of $926.50.</span>

<span>"We did it the first couple of years, buying the stuff at Stallman's (Hardware) for basically the same price," said Bert, who said Egyptian has been doing the project for the last several years.</span>

<span>Bert said all Chester Fire Department trucks have been recently pump tested and all passed. He also reported that there is a $60,000 remaining balance to pay off the department's rescue truck and said he would talk with the city's auditor to see if there's room in the budget to pay off the remainder of the loan.</span>

<span>Finally, Bert said he is working with Gilster-Mary Lee administrative staff to try and arrange for firefighters who are Gilster-Mary Lee employees to be available for larger calls.</span>

<span>Three Chester firefighters are current employees with the company.</span>

<span>"I'm going to try and work something out," Bert said.</span>

<span> </span>