An assault, involving juveniles, took place at the playground at Fireman's Beach in Conneaut Lake last week.

During the July meeting of the Regional Police Commission, Police Chief Todd Pfeifer reported that the assault took place in broad daylight with people on the beach.

“We had an incident this past week in regards to juveniles....at the playground, at Fireman's Beach, of a very serious nature, involving an illegal sexual act. The juvenile actor has since been charged with juvenile probation and is awaiting adjudication through them...”

He continued to say that he has suggested to borough officials, in the past, that it would be a good idea to open up the area around the playground for visibility reasons. He related that this was not the first incident to happen and that there had been illegal drug use, sexual goings on and other issues in general.

Portions of the playground are in the shape of a castle or a fortress. For this reason, people of all ages can hide within the structure. This has been a topic of many a Conneaut Lake Borough Council meeting.

“It's my suggestion that it either be razed and something more open be put in there or some of the external boundaries and walls be removed so that parents can see...,” Pfeifer said.

Conneaut Lake Borough Council President Richard Holabaugh imparted that swimming lessons were taking place at the time and asked how the victim's absence had gone unnoticed.

The chief cleared things up by explaining that the incident took place after the lessons had ended. Several girls had gone to play at the playground after the lessons. One girl was singled out and when all others returned to their families, the mother of the victim noticed that her daughter had not returned with the rest of the group.

Holabaugh said he had thought that it took place during the actual swim lessons.

Sadsbury Township Supervisor Roy Whaley asked if the borough had taken any measures in terms of lighting at the area in question.

Holabaugh said that they had not installed any new lighting due to budgetary constraints. There are lights at the beach but no new lighting has been erected at this time.

Mayor Tim Kaider spoke up and said that the recent episode was just another reason why they are currently looking to replace the playground with a more age appropriate facility.

He said they had been talking about this for a long time at meetings and they are going to try and discuss prices at the next Borough Council meeting.

As was mentioned in the Borough Council report, borough officials have been looking for state and federal grants to aid in the purchase of some new equipment.

Another news item was that of a personnel change, which will result in Linesville being left without a police chief.

Conneaut Lake Officer Broderick is leaving his post and will be working in another township starting in August. His full time position was then filled by Officer David Overman. Overman had been tapped to act as Linesville police chief since Linesville’s George Davis retired recently. The personnel discussions took place in an executive session toward the end of the regular meeting.

In other news, Holabaugh said that he gets complaints on a regular basis that the police presence isn't quite enough and, that the police presence is way too much, depending on who's doing the talking.

He said that he personally sees the state officers on the secondary roads in town just about every day with someone pulled over. Also, the police activity report for the month of June, (see below), shows that the Regional Department made 85 stops in the borough alone. Holabaugh said that this does indicate that the police are on the job.

In kinder and gentler news, an area resident, Mrs. Stephens, makes a monthly donation to the department and has been doing so for quite some time now. Sadsbury Township Secretary Rose Mumau explained that Stephens likes to keep her donations limited to the immediate community, in order to give back on a more local level. Mumau described Stephens as a “real sweetheart.”

The chief presented the activity report for June and it was as follows: There were 15 traffic citations issued in the township and 14 in the borough; 1 non-traffic citations in the township; 2 misdemeanor arrests in the township; 12 incident reports in the township and 4 in the borough; 6 incidents cleared in the township; 4 accident reports in the township with 1 injury and 2 accident reports in the borough with 1 injury; 2 follow up reports in the township; 69 calls in the township and 21 in the borough and 7 outside the area; 64 verbal/written warnings in the township and 74 in the borough; 78 traffic stops in the township and 85 in the borough and 2 motorist assists in the township and 4 in the borough.

K9 activities were: 5 hours of training.

Total calls were 283 in June.

The next meeting of the Conneaut Lake Regional Police Commission will take place on Aug 18 at 6:30. The meetings are held at the Sadsbury Township building and begin at 6:30.