EAST PALESTINE — The local chamber of commerce is looking into donating money for more security cameras in the downtown business district.

Councilman D.J. Yokley told council last week that the chamber received a $500 donation from CCH Environmental, also known as the Tri-County Solid Waste District, for more cameras.

The first two security cameras were installed last summer, although they were not operational right away due to a few technological difficulties, Yokley said.

Yokley said those problems have been corrected and the cameras are serving the village well, and in fact were helpful with a recent traffic crash, since the police department was able to go back and review the footage to see exactly what happened.

The cameras are not geared toward traffic enforcement, but to monitor activity along North Market Street to keep businesses safe.

Last year the chamber provided a $2,000 donation to the village to help pay for the first of the cameras, and Yokley said the chamber is looking into donating more.

In other business, council approved appointing a new member to the village’s park board, and a new member to the planning commission following a more than half-hour executive session.

Council unanimously approved Jessica Conard for the park board and Karen King for the planning commission. The women will replace Marge Slavik and Shirley Gorby, who both recently resigned.

Slavik served on the park board since January of 2017 and Gorby served on the planning commission since the late 1980s.

In her letter of interest to the village, Conard said she wished to serve on the park board because she is “ready to set goals, effectively address them and ultimately take more responsibility for the village.”

Conard has a Master’s degree in Speech Language Pathology from Kent State University and has worked in the medical field for the past 10 years. The is also a registered yoga teacher with the Yoga Alliance.

She lives, works, and owns a small business in East Palestine.

“My children attend school here, and my husband and I would have it no other way. I am gladly invested in our future and our youth at the First Church of Christ as well as a recent member and newly elected treasurer of the East Palestine Youth Sports Association board,” she wrote.

She added that she has experience in finance management and marketing through assisting with a family furniture business as well as her own yoga studio.

King said she decided to pursue to the open seat on the planning commission because she cares about the town. King graduated from East Palestine High School and has lived in the village for several years.

She attends most council meetings and wants to be more invested.

Katie White Morning Journal News