CANFIELD — City council has approved setting up an OVI Task Force fund through September 2023.

The city will receive $225,000 to continue its effort to make Mahoning County roads safer from drunken drivers.

“We are in the top 10 counties in Ohio when it comes to OVI-related fatalities,” Canfield police Chief Chuck Colucci told council Wednesday. “It’s not something to brag about.”

Colucci said being in the top 10 means getting more federal funds to have OVI checkpoints and saturation patrols.

Christine Stack-Clayton, the city’s finance director, said the money is made available to communities as a reimbursement. The government entity handling the OVI Task Force funds has to pay out for officers who take part in the program.

She said when a checkpoint or saturation patrols take place, Canfield has to pay the officers from all the participating departments. That payout is then turned in for reimbursement from the federal funds allotted to that district.

This is Canfield’s 12th year overseeing the OVI Task Force. The grant funding is available Oct. 1 through Sept. 30, 2023.

Colucci said when it first began, the task force was run through the Mahoning County Board of Health. After the first year, Goshen police took it over, but Colucci said that township had a tough time fronting the funds. That is when Canfield took over, which required setting up a separate fund and having up-front money to pay for the checkpoints and patrols.

“We front the money, then ask for the reimbursement,” Clayton said.

Clayton said reimbursement is done monthly, and the state has been pretty good about keeping pace.

For Canfield police, assistant Chief Scott Weamer oversees the program. Clayton said Weamer logs administrative hours under the grant as he has to set up the checkpoints or patrols and recruits officers from around the county to work it.

Colucci said Weamer also has to try to stay within the budget amount granted.

jwhitehouse@vindy.com