By Elizabeth Perry
Robinson Township Board voted unanimously to hire Ronald Viskovicz as a patrolman for the Robinson Township Police Department.
“He could be a very valuable asset to the Robinson Police Department,” said Chief Tim Westwood.
Viskovicz worked for the City of Pittsburgh for 22 years and retired as a sergeant.
He had been a SWAT operator and a field trainer.
Field trainers teach new recruits and give recommendations about candidates.
Viscovicz also reviewed vehicles involved in car accidents and had experience with critical incidents. According to the United States Department of Justice, a critical incident specialist has experience dealing with, “controversy or conflict involving the police and a community.”
Particularly, Viskovicz said he had experience dealing with shootings. Currently, he works for the Allegheny County Police, a group that patrols the Allegheny County Airport, the Pittsburgh International Airport and nine county parks.
They investigate “all criminal activity which occurs on county-owned property,” according to the department website.
Stacie Viskovicz, wife of the candidate, said she is a Montour graduate and that Robinson was her “home stomping grounds.”
They are currently Robinson Township residents.
The couple have a 6-year-old, and Viskovicz said he was interested in protecting the place where his child lived.
“I have a stake,” Viskovicz said.
Last month, two new officers were sworn in; officers Tim Nutter and Terry Gensel.
In other news:
At the April 3 meeting, the board unanimously voted to allow Keystone Sports Construction to finish the basketball court at Burkett Park at a cost of $16,636.38. Installation should take place by the end of June or early July, Manager Frank Piccolino said. The township went through COSTARs for the project, which is the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's cooperative purchasing program.
Clever Park Pool
The Clever Park Pool is currently undergoing renovations; the concession stand is being revamped with new cupboards and appliances and the lifeguard safety stations are being fixed, Piccolino said.
The pool will be drained and cleaned in April for a proposed opening date in May.
A staff of 20 lifeguards were approved at the meeting and new software is being installed to run the concession stand and enable pool registration.
Piccolino said residents will be able to register for the pool digitally this year.
“Given that everything’s online now, we can do this a lot simpler,” Piccolino said.
Vehicle theft
A Robinson Township public works vehicle was stolen about two months ago and was recovered March 24.
“The only initial damage from what I understand was theft of the catalytic converter,” Ronald Shiwarski, vice chairman of the board said.