By STACY LEE Daily News Staff Writer slee@dailynewsemail.com
  Elizabeth police will continue to patrol West Elizabeth’s streets. Following an executive session Monday night, West Elizabeth council unanimously approved a one-year contract for Elizabeth police services at a cost of approximately $50,000. “They’re doing a satisfactory job and the borough is happy with what they’re doing,” Councilman Steve Hallam said. The contract is retroactive to Jan. 1. Council also agreed to continue with the police feasibility study funded by the state Department of Community and Economic Development involving West Elizabeth, Elizabeth, Elizabeth Township and Forward Township . “They’ve completed a preliminary study,” Hallam said. “They’re now going to go into a more in-depth study. We’re not sure exactly how long it’s going to take.” State Rep. David Levdansky, D-Forward Township , hosted a closed-door meeting on the results of the feasibility study Thursday night for officials of the four communities involved. No specific details of the meeting were made public. Levdansky said the report looked at budgets, police spending, population

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and geographic size, assessed property values, crime statistics, road miles and size of the police departments of the four municipalities. The municipalities have 30 days to report to Levdansky to continue on with the study. West Elizabeth council, meeting just four days after the feasibility meeting, was the first to vote to continue with the study. Elizabeth police took over patrolling West Elizabeth from Jefferson Hills police in 2005. Council also discussed coke debris on Route 837, which is clogging the borough’s catch basins. Councilman Daryl Celestino asked borough Secretary Robin Stockton to check with Solicitor Matthew Racunas to determine if a letter was sent to U.S. Steel about helping the borough pay for cleaning its catch basins along Route 837. “We mentioned about how expensive it is to clean these sewers because of all the debris that falls off the trucks,” Celestino said. He also requested someone contact Schaefer Trucking to run the sweeper along Route 837 to clean up the coke. Council is asking code enforcement officer Bill Wolfgang for an update on the status of the vacant McKee-Stewart Building at the corner of Second and Washington streets. “Every time the wind blows, a piece of plywood flies off of it,” Councilman Ray Armstrong Sr. said. He said he wants something done. “If you want to clean up the town, you have to start going after people to fix up their place,” Armstrong said. Council Vice President Frank Magill was absent.