The Voorhees Police Department will see five new additions to its force as a result of the Township Committee meeting on June 23.
The committee appointed Lawrence Spellman III, Jack Kluk, Thomas Bordi, Jonah Randazzo and Jonathan Daddario as police officers. Bordi is the son of current Police Chief Louis Bordi and Spellman is the son of Township Administrator Larry Spellman.
To be appointed as police officers, the candidates had to pass a civil service test and prove residency in Voorhees. The candidates were selected based on their civil service test scores.
“There have been four police officers who have retired recently,” Township Administrator Larry Spellman said. “So, we needed to find some new candidates to fill those spots.”
The new candidates must complete the Police Academy before they can be sworn in, however. After they complete the academy, they are then able to ride with a fellow police officer for training before they are able to ride alone.
“We are looking forward to the candidates being sworn in as police officers,” Spellman said. “They should be here protecting the community for the next 30 years.”
The candidates are expected to be ready for full-time duty by spring 2015. In the meantime, Spellman expects many police officers to get overtime to cover the space left by the four retiring officers.
Police Chief Louis Bordi has also authorized the First Annual Junior Police Academy program, which will take place between July 21 and July 25.
“Police officers are a very important part of any town,” Spellman said. “And any time officers retire, it’s important to have people ready to take their place who are ready to serve the community.”
In other news:
– The township purchased two pick-up trucks and a dump truck, all with snow plow packages.
“Our trucks took a beating this winter,” Spellman said. “These trucks should last us a while and ensure we will be ready should we have another winter like that again.”
– The township released the performance guarantees and accepted the maintenance guarantees for Kellman Academy and Animal Welfare Association. The maintenance guaranty for Kellman Academy is $6,451 and $85,513.19 for Animal Welfare Association.
– The township accepted a developer’s agreement for Muslim American Community, Inc. The proposal is for a 7,400 square foot addition.
– The township executed a sewer agreement with Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, the owners of the Town Center. The agreement will see an expansion of the sewer lines near the mall, and in return, PREIT will fix a portion of the township’s sewer lines, saving the township approximately $100,000.
– The next Township Committee Meeting will be July 14 at 7:30 p.m.
