Brian Josephson named Plains police chief

Monday’s Plains Town Council meeting opened with a full agenda and was very well attended by local citizens. The evening’s main goal was to hire a replacement for retiring police chief Shawn Emmett.

First on the agenda was Mayor Rowan's report on the new sewer lagoon construction progress, which is on schedule. Construction for the new service building at the lagoon is also well underway.

Installation of the fiberoptics project is proceeding well with only one issue with finding an unknown sewer line, that was quickly repaired.

The swimming pool has been cleaned and filled, ready for this year’s swimmers. Opening day is June 13.

July’s Town Council meeting will be held on July 5.

Council member, Chris Allen, discussed possible issues with the setback ordinances. Council members voted to table the discussion for another meeting.

Judge Collins was unanimously approved by council members to another term.

Mayor Rowan nominated Brian Josephson as the new Police Chief, and asked the council to vote on that nomination. The vote was 5 to 1 for hiring Brian. The new position will take effect July 1.

Brian comes to Plains with 14 years of law enforcement experience and is currently a detective from the Sanders County Sheriff’s Office.

The Public Works department is still looking to fill a full-time position. Applicants can apply at the City Hall office.

Several issues were raised during the public comment period. Calvin Williams was concerned that the city of Plains was not enforcing the junk vehicle ordinances. He said that too many homes in town had junk vehicles in plain sight that haven’t been move in years. Another issue raised by several individuals was about speeders along city streets. Mayor Rowan has asked the police officers to watch those streets most affected by speeders.

Steve Clairmont, the Community Focused Economic Development Director, discussed how he could help the town of Plains find grant money to fund various projects under consideration.