bkibler@altoonamirror.com
City Council approved a separation agreement with former Manager Ken Decker on Monday, then appointed acting Manager Omar Strohm as Decker’s permanent replacement.
Decker will receive six months’ severance pay on his $132,000-a-year salary, health coverage and retirement contributions for that period and compensation for vacation and personal days he has accumulated, according to solicitor Tom Finn.
Strohm will receive a $25,000 raise, bringing his salary to $125,000.
Decker was placed on paid administrative leave in early April for unspecified reasons, although they were not because of any illegal actions, Finn has said.
As they have before, council members declined to say why they let Decker go.
bkibler@altoonamirror.com
City Council on Monday gave permission for staff to investigate how best to amend the zoning ordinance to regulate drug and alcohol “recovery houses.”
The discussion was in response to a recent inquiry from a party who hopes to buy a property in order to establish such a facility.
Recovery houses are “safe, healthy, family-like, substance-free living environments that support individuals in recovery from addiction … centered on peer support and a connection to services that promote long-term recovery,” according to the Substance and Mental Health Services Administration. Unlike halfway houses, they don’t need to be licensed in Pennsylvania although the state is working on a licensing protocol.
bkibler@altoonamirror.com
City Council on Monday gave permission for staff to investigate how best to amend the zoning ordinance to regulate drug and alcohol “recovery houses.”
The discussion was in response to a recent inquiry from a party who hopes to buy a property in order to establish such a facility.
Recovery houses are “safe, healthy, family-like, substance-free living environments that support individuals in recovery from addiction … centered on peer support and a connection to services that promote long-term recovery,” according to the Substance and Mental Health Services Administration. Unlike halfway houses, they don’t need to be licensed in Pennsylvania although the state is working on a licensing protocol.
bkibler@altoonamirror.com
Altoona Police Chief Janice Freehling, the first woman to head the city department, is retiring, effective March 1, the 20th anniversary of her appointment as chief.
“I selected that date some time ago,” said Freehling, 67, who joined the force 44 years ago.
“If anybody has earned her retirement, it’s her,” City Manager Ken Decker said.
Freehling was “proactive at keeping people safe” and “cared very much for her officers,” Councilman Dave Butterbaugh said.
She put those officers “in position to succeed,” Butterbaugh said. He added that she worked well with council.
“If I had any questions or needed a clarification to understand something better,” she was always willing, he said. “She was a great teacher that way.”