Peru Council approves hire of new officer

Peru City Council authorized the fire and police commission to proceed with filling a police officer vacancy.

With this authorization Peru Police Chief Doug Bernabei said Monday the department hopes to get its new hire into the Southwestern Illinois Police Academy in Belleville around Thanksgiving with an expected start date in late 2020 or early 2021.

This move will fill the last remaining vacancy on the Peru Police Department with the hope of having the new officer complete the training process and be on the road by next summer, according to Bernabei.

With a new officer on the horizon the council also authorized the Peru human resource manager to seek applicants for the position of IT Director.

The council believed the position was something needed by the city as the search to fill the newly-created vacancy will begin shortly.

Updgrading council broadcasts

The council continued its discussions of video and audio upgrades for the council chambers amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

All council meetings are available for the public to view via Zoom video calls but given the current status of their equipment the council agreed upgrades are needed.

The proposed upgrades will enable the city to have fully-electronic meetings with the public with presentations that will allow individuals to take part of the meeting from the comfort of their own homes.

The chamber's microphone system is not tied into the audio feed for the Zoom calls, leaving the possibility of inconsistent audio for those viewing remotely.

While nothing specific regarding the technical upgrades was decided upon, the city is fielding quotes for the system and received a motion to add the proposal to the agenda for the next council meeting Monday, Oct. 12.