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Running the Edwardsville Police Department is nothing new for Steve Vaughn.

He's been acting police chief since former Chief John Ellison left the department in September for a similar job in Oregon.

Even before that, Vaughn was deputy police chief for two years, running the department when Ellison took vacation or was on a leave of absence.

But now, he has the official title.

The Edwardsville City Council unanimously approved a contract Monday, Feb. 10, to name Vaughn the permanent police chief. However, the new contract did not come with a raise. He will keep the same salary of $53,500.

The decision came upon the recommendation of search committee that was formed to hire a new police chief. The police officers' union, The Fraternal Order of Police, agreed to the recommendation.

Vaughn began his law enforcement career with Edwardsville as a reserve police officer. He worked his way up through the ranks in the last 14 years and has seen several changes in the department.

He expects more changes in the future.

Not so much with staff, or department regulations, but with how the department of 14 employees will have to evolve with a growing community.

Demands on police service will grow if developments like the proposed casinos are built, he said.

The city is also experiencing a growth in residential development.

Vaughn said the department needs to start planning for these changes.

"The toughest obstacle is the growth and we need to be in a position to handle the services that comes with that growth," he said.

He also wants to rebuild the reserve officer program, which has decreased in numbers in the last year.

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• Also at the City Council meeting Monday, City Administrator Doug Spangler said the Union Pacific Railroad was going to fix the crossing at Fourth and Ninth Streets.

The railroad is going to replace the asphalt intersection with concrete. Workers will also re-grade the asphalt portion leading from the crossing into the city street.

Spangler said the dilapidated crossing did not cause the train derailment last month. Engineers blamed the derailment on a section of track east of the crossing that came apart because of weather conditions. The project should begin within the next week, Spangler said.

Council members also voted to take $500,000 of the city's liquid assets from a money market account and place them into a certificate of deposit. The money market has not been doing well, and the council wanted to protect the city's investment. The city has $1.7 million in available revenue.

The only outstanding debt for is a General Obligation Bond of $410,000 that the city had acquired for street improvements. The city has tried to pay of the debt early, but conditions of the bond doesn't allow for an early payoff.

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