Stryker K-9 almost ready for service

He doesn’t anticipate any problems with the pair passing and, once they do, Titan can go into service immediately.

Titan is a rescue dog from East Lansing, Michigan.

“He’s a Dutch shepherd,” Schlosser said. “He is about a year and six months old. Steve’s got connections everywhere. Our last three dogs have been through the Throwaway Dogs Project, which is around the Philadelphia area.”

Mendez, who has handled police K-9s previously, went to Michigan and personally put Titan through an assessment, believing him to be a good match for the department.

They trained in Allen County, Indiana, which Schlosser said is one of the better dog training facilities in the nation and where many local officers go for training.

“Because Steve was a former (K-9) handler, already, and knowing the master trainer there, they both anticipated (training) would be abbreviated,” he said. “Typically, it’s a 12-16 week process. Steve and Titan completed it in about six to eight. Just because it’s faster, doesn’t mean he’s got less experience.”

The cost was “absolutely zero,” Schlosser added, with the exception of the gas it took to drive to Indiana.

He said Mendez took on some of the expenses personally while other aspects, such as equipment, were donated.

Separately, the council decided to have a meeting of the judiciary committee after a concerned citizen’s comments at Monday’s council meeting.

The resident, who didn’t introduce himself, said kids have motorized bicycles, hoverboards and scooters and he wants them to be able to ride those around the block without getting stopped by police and told they can’t ride them on the sidewalks or streets.

A woman said her daughter had been stopped before for riding a battery-operated dirt bike on the road, when they don’t have sidewalks in that area of town.

Mayor Joey Beck said the judiciary committee can recommend changes to council.

“If there’s something specific that you would like addressed, that is where we would start,” he said. “We cannot go against Ohio Revised Code (ORC) or Administrative Code. We can be more strict but we cannot loosen it up.”

Councilman Derek Potter said the village has an ordinance about no motorized vehicles on the sidewalks and asked about enforcement, if all motorized vehicles were banned or if someone could ride, for example, a motorized scooter but not a motorized bike.

He also asked about ORC regulations about it.

Beck said the judiciary committee would need to discuss the current ordinance and work with the village legal counsel to make sure it’s all within ORC limitations.

A judiciary committee meeting was scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Monday, March 20, just prior to the council meeting.

In other business:

• Village Fiscal Officer Beth Rediger said the Johnson Street waterline project, which will replace four-inch cast iron piping and install new catch basins, is set to happen this year. Engineering plans were submitted and the estimated cost will be $150,000.

• Rediger said she was working with the new director of Williams County Economic Development Corporation about housing as well as Community Reinvestment Areas in the village.