The Village of Walbridge in Wood County has a new police chief. Don Egan, a veteran of the CSX Police Department, was sworn in during the village council meeting on Wednesday, taking command of a department working to rebuild community trust.
Egan was sworn in by Wood County Common Pleas Judge Joel Kuhlman. He brings 37 years with the CSX Police Department, which protects more than 21,000 miles of railway and keeps an office at Walbridge Yard, just southwest of the village. He rose to the rank of supervisory special agent, overseeing railroad police operations spanning Toledo, Detroit and Cleveland.
During his CSX tenure, Egan also served as a task force officer assigned to the FBI Cleveland Joint Terrorism Task Force with the Toledo squad, an experience he said taught him to be flexible and not take things at face value. Mayor Ed Kolanko said Egan’s pedigree made him an ideal candidate, noting he had considered him for the job for about a year and a half.
“I’m just looking forward to working in the community and just doing the best job I can for the citizens and taking on all the challenges that come with it,” Egan said. Kolanko said he believes the new chief will bring stability after a difficult period in which an officer was terminated last year for allegedly responding to a call while intoxicated.
Egan was not the only new face sworn in. Sydney Felt, who holds a criminal justice degree from the University of Toledo and is a graduate of the Toledo School for the Arts, was also sworn in as a full-time police officer.
Council also filled its own vacancy on Wednesday, appointing Sheila Tucker to the seat left open by the resignation of former Council President Thomas L. Urbina. Tucker won the appointment on a roll-call vote and will be officially sworn in at the council’s next regular meeting on November 4, when council is also expected to elect a new council president.
In other business, the village announced a $625,000 grant through the Lake Erie West Regional Council for Main Street improvements, part of a joint $1.2 million project with Lake Township, plus a $571,000 grant for sidewalk improvements on Union Street. Leaf pickup has begun, and restrooms at Loop and Railway parks will be winterized on November 2.
Photo: Wood County District Public Library, CC BY-SA