GOSHEN TOWNSHIP — The Goshen Police District has been awarded a grant to upgrade its body cameras. 

During the board of trustees meeting Tuesday, Police Chief John Calko announced that the department had been approved for Ohio’s 2026 Body-Worn Camera Grant and would be receiving $17,236 from the state. He said that money would be used to cover the costs of upgrading the department’s body cameras to the Axis Body-Worn Camera System, and that the award letter was expected to arrive within the next week. 

Calko said that it was a reimbursement grant, meaning the department will pay the cost of the new equipment up-front and submit that expense to the state to be paid out from the grant, and that the initial cost had already been budgeted for. Calko also thanked the trustees for purchasing a back-up generator for the department. 

“About a week ago we had a pretty good power outage out in Green and Goshen both and were out of power for a good six hours. But we were running solid here with power, ran right through, and everything was lit up,” said Calko. 

The meeting also featured the appointment of the township’s new fire prevention officer. Trustees voted unanimously to designate Damascus Volunteer Fire Department Chief Justin Thompson as fire prevention officer. Trustee John Bricker also said that the Mahoning County engineer’s office had completed its annual review of the township bridges and that all 20 had passed. 

He also said that Mahoning County Engineer Patrick Ginnetti will attend the board’s next meeting to discuss the upcoming renewal of the county sales tax. 

“That’s what got all our roads paved and kept everything up and whatnot, so if you can get the word out a little bit and maybe get a few people here to listen to [Ginnetti] or if anyone has any questions, he’s the guy to ask and he’ll be here,” said Bricker. 

Other matters included the approval of a motion to declare one of the township’s street sweepers as surplus with a value less than $2,500 and to sell it at public auction, and approval of a motion to adopt the Mahoning County Waste Management District’s solid waste management plan. 

The board of trustees will meet next at 6 p.m. on March 10.