Seadrift Police Chief Leonard Bermea presents Life Saving pins to officers Robert Montero (left) and Louis Warren (right).
Seadrift Police Chief Leonard Bermea was visibly moved as he told the City Council and citizens of the heroic actions of Officers Robert Montero and Louis Warren who saved the lives of two individuals who attempted suicide this past month.
In the late hours of July 4th, Officers Montero and Warren responded to a dispatch from 911 when someone noticed a car parked in an out-of-the-way area of the bay front and saw a person slumped over in the car and called 911. On the officers arrival, they discovered a man covered with blood, barely alive. Applying a tourniquet to his deeply cut arm, along with other lifesaving measures, allowed the person, a Veteran from out of town, to stay alive until EMS reached him. Although he had been despondent enough to try to take his own life, the Veteran, upon recovering in the hospital, thanked the officers for saving him. Later in the month, Officers Montero and Warren were instrumental in saving the life of an unnamed local man with a deep cut in his throat.
Chief Bermea presented the officers with Life Saving Pins to display on their uniforms, as the audience signaled their appreciation with applause. “In our Nation at this time, when officers are being criticized for taking lives, I am proud that we can show our appreciation when officers save lives,” said Chief Bermea.
The City Council meeting of August 2 included reports from the various departments and discussion of upcoming grant application items, including pending notification of a grant that could pay for a new police vehicle to replace the Tahoe K-9 unit. That vehicle was destroyed due to an electrical fire (according to the State Fire Marshall). So far, the department has received $14,800 from TML for the vehicle loss and is expecting further reimbursement for the police equipment in the car, such as radios, computer, radar, K-9 supplies and etc.
Since the department now has only one fully-functioning vehicle, Mayor DeForest requested Council to approve the purchase of another suitable, used vehicle. Purchase was approved up to $22,000 in price including some equipment for which the City is still waiting reimbursement.
Council approved a tax rate for the year of .50 per $100 valuation, the same as last year and approved the General Fund Budget for fiscal year 2016-2017. The Utility, Harbor and Motel Tax Fund budgets for fiscal year 2016-2017 were approved at a special meeting held July 28th.
Bids were opened for the sale of the City’s 1993 Case 580 Super K Backhoe and a Kubota T1880 Lawn Tractor. There were four bids received by the Monday deadline. When opened at the meeting, the high bid of $7,011.00 was made by Gregory Hunt, which was approved for sale. No bids were received for the Kubota T1880 Lawn Tractor and Council then authorized the sale of the T1880 by the best means possible.
A special meeting is scheduled at 7:00 p.m. August 16th to take care of additional pending business that cannot wait for the next scheduled meeting. Seadrift City Council meets regularly the first Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. in Seadrift City Hall. All citizens are welcome and encouraged to attend.
