By Wayne Gates – 

The Georgetown Village Council is still looking for proposals to operate the Gaslight Theater.
Three groups expressed interest in running the theater at the Feb. 8 village council meeting. The Gaslight Theater Players, Children’s Christian Theater and a group associated with former council member Susan Bean all told council that they would submit proposals.
Council will accept proposals up until next council meeting on Feb. 22, and then make a decision after that time.
In other business, Georgetown Mayor Dale Cahall swore in new part-time police officer Brad Liming at the meeting. Georgetown Police Chief Rob Freeland said that Liming came highly recommended.
Council President and Emergency Services Committee member Wade Highlander told council that his committee was currently looking into the challenges faced by the village regarding emergency services staffing.
In the approved minutes from the January 25 meeting, it was noted that “The village has budgeted one more annual transfer of $150,000 to be split equally between fire and EMS funds to help support the part-time day staffing until the (emergency services) committee can decide what should be done to financially fund all day staffing. the general fund cannot sustain the continuation of transferring that amount of money each year to help cover a day shift.”
Highlander said that the committee would meet again on March 8 at 6 p.m. prior to the regular council meeting to continue to discuss the issue.
In other business, Cahall noted that the request for a second round of funding for renovation of the Gaslight Theater had been made in the legislature. The funding has not been approved, but Cahall said he was hopeful that the approval would take place.
Freeland gave a report to council that included statistics for the past four weeks, including 383 calls for service, 191 traffic stops, 92 Mayor’s Court citations and 25 charges filed with county court.
Freeland also shared three incident reports with council, including one regarding a theft charge filed against a teenager.
Freeland reported that a shoe sale was set up on Snapchat, and that the teenager ran away with the shoes after meeting the seller.
The seller contacted the police, and it was determined that the teenager had used his real name on his Snapchat account. He is now facing theft charges in Brown County Juvenile Court.
Freeland also noted that a local man had been charged with possession of methamphetamine three times within ten days by the same officer, including twice in one day.
Finally, Freeland shared with council how investigation into a harrassment case that grew into a major drug bust.
Freeland reported that Captain Matt Staggs and Corporal Shaun Inlow and Officer Jesse Green all worked together to develop the case.
Green initially took a report of damage to two vehicles. When Staggs looked into the matter, he became concerned for the safety of the victims and secured an arrest warrant.
Inlow staked out the victim’s home and caught suspect Shane Jarvis in the act of trying to slash tires. He was arrested after a short foot chase.
After further investigation, it was determined that Jarvis was engaged in a marijuana growing operation at his home.
Freeland included a letter from Brown County Prosecuting Attorney Zac Corbin which read in part, “Corporal Shaun Inlow went above and beyond, continuing the investigation to gather additional case evidence. By thinking outside the box, Corporal Inlow came across information that Shane Jarvis had been engaging in illegal drug activity…This search also led to additional information pretaining to drug activity in Clermont County.”
The letter closed with Corbin writing, “This is exactly the type of cooperative effort that we need here in Brown County. I truly appreciate the professionalism and excellent work on the part of your team.”
Council also voiced appreciation for the efforts of the police department.
The next Georgetown Village Council meeting is scheduled for Feb. 22 at 7:00 p.m.