Havre City Council approves Craig as probationary police officer

Members of the Havre City Council Monday approved the appointment of Tyler Craig to the position of probationary police officer for the Havre Police Department.

"Tyler is a hard worker and a solid person and I believe he will be a great asset to the Havre Police Department and would like to recommend him for the position," Police Chief Gabe Matosich said.

Craig grew up in Great Falls, graduating from Charles M. Russell High School, before attending Montana State University-Northern, Matosich said. At Northern, Craig played football and obtained a bachelor's degree in science, majoring in criminal justice and community leadership, he said. While at Northern, Craig also participated in the internship with the Havre Police Department through the college, he said.

He added that for the past year Craig has been working at the Park County Detention Center and has completed an extensive planning process and background investigation. Matosich said that Craig has met all of the necessary requirements of the position and would make a strong addition to the police department.

Craig is a good applicant, Matosich said.

Craig's appointment would go into effect March 26 and he is scheduled to attend the state police academy in April.

Community member Cody Solomon said during public comment that he is concerned with how the city will be moving forward with its long-term plans for Havre's water system.

As a community member, he said, he hears a variety of different people talk about the city's water system. He said that after February, the problems with water main breaks are more prominent.

Mayor Tim Solomon said that at this point in time he cannot say exactly how the city will address the issue. The city has a number of areas that each have different concerns at present. He said the city has and will continue to address some of the issues, all part of the effort to resolve the problems.

Cody Solomon said that the age of the water and sewer lines in Havre is causing some of these issues, and although he understands finances are a problem, the city needs to find a more permanent way of solving the main problems.

"We kick the can down the road, then we get a cold like this and the can bites us," he said.

Tim Solomon said that the bonding proposed last general election, which was voted down, could have helped in preventing some of these issues in specific areas of the city. Although some problems occured in February that the city had not seen before, he said.

Council member Ed Matter said that even though the weather is warming up he wanted to remind people to still leave a light flow of water going in their homes to prevent water lines from freezing. He said even with the warmer weather, frost is still in the ground which could damage water lines.

Matter also brought attention a number of people who have left up their yard signs from the election last year. People are supposed to remove these signs 30 days after the election, he said, this would not include signage which is posted inside of a private residence, such as in a window.

Solomon said people need to give public works a call so they know where these signs are and can address them properly.

Council member Karen Swenson said that the Safety Committee met last week and reviewed information for the past three months.

"I'm happy to announce that those who were there said that there were no injuries for the last three months, which is outstanding given the weather we've had," she said.

She added that the police and fire department both have done extensive training over the past three months. Swenson said the meeting last week also saw many new faces in attendance and the committee will be meeting again in June.