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Brinley died tragically March 13 after she was struck by a city of Monroe truck driven by the city's water superintendent as she rode her bike near her home. The little girl was just a few days shy of her third birthday.

Mulligan questioned City Manager Judy Gilleland about whether Middletown city vehicles were equipped with safety features such as backup sensors, rearview cameras and warning signals.

An 18-page crash report released Tuesday by the Ohio State Highway Patrol's Hamilton Post, which investigated the fatality, revealed the Monroe city vehicle was not equipped with such devices.

Gilleland said she met with Public Works Director Ginger Smith to discuss the issue in the wake of the fatal accident. She said city trucks that are three quarters of a ton and larger do have backup sensors and warning signals.

Gilleland said the cost of installing sensors on the rest of the city fleet would be $300 to $400 per vehicle. She added rearview cameras would cost about $1,000 per vehicle.

Vice Mayor Jim Armbruster suggested city employees go through a quarterly driving safety review.

City officials expressed their condolences for the Rhodes family and the Monroe community.

Meeting goes to the dogs

Police Chief Greg Schwarber and Sgt. Andy Warrick introduced the newest additions to Middletown's K-9 unit, Ajax and Viper.

K-9 officers Tim Meehan and Dennis Jordan, put the new police dogs through a short demonstration on how well they are trained and how protective they are of their handlers.

Warrick said both dogs and their handlers completed a 14-week course.

Ajax is trained to aggressively alert for narcotics, while Viper is trained to passively alert for explosives, Warrick said.

Middletown police started its K-9 program in 1966 when the city's first K-9 was purchased by citizens, Warrick said.

Fire truck disposal

After approving the purchase of a new $457,003 Sutphin fire pumper at its March 4 meeting, council asked Fire Chief Steve Botts about the possibility of donating the 1992 Sutphin engine it will be replacing to a nearby community.

Botts said Tuesday the 1992 engine cost $197,000 to purchase and according to the city's fleet manager, that engine has cost $184,000 to operate and maintain. Botts said the maintenance cost benchmark is 50 percent of the purchase price. In 2007, the engine was out of service 69 days and in 2006, it was out of service 46 days, he said.

In addition, Botts said the engine currently has an estimated value of $10,000 and noted there are liability questions if the city donates the engine.

He recommended the city sell the engine through an Internet site that specializes in disposing of public property.

Botts said the city does donate self-contained breathing apparatus, compressor and technical assistance to Butler Tech, which then provides in-kind training credits for courses there.

Executive session called

Council went into executive session to discuss two matters. Those matters cited were for the sale of public property and to discuss negotiations with public employees.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2871 or erichter@coxohio.com.