Members of Hampton Council discussed a variety of topics at their regular meeting July 9.

The township’s police social worker, Angela Kenbok, gave a presentation on the progress being made in the community.

Hampton is one of only a few townships in the area that employs a full-time social worker within the police department — and Kenbok stays busy.

In addition to Kenbok, interns and other helpers have contributed to the department in the past. Kenbok announced that a new part-time employee will be joining her to help with the additional needs of the growing entity.

Olivia Baumgarten, a part-time forensic interviewer at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, has an undergraduate and master’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh in social work. She will assist Kenbok on an as-needed basis.

“I’m just really excited to get experience in trauma-informed care,” Baumgarten said.

Her goal is to eventually find full-time employment in police social work.

In addition to announcing Baumgarten’s hire, Kenbok spoke about the many successes her department has had recently, including a hoarding case that took nine or 10 days of hard labor to clean up and renovate.

“It was a huge success, but it was a lot of work. We were there all day, every day,” Kenbok said.

Because of the lack of police social workers in the area, there aren’t a lot of resources for the department, she said.

“There are not a whole lot of police social work training events, but we find ways to get our message out. We try to attend as many community engagements as we can,” Kenbok said.

The police social workers offer regular seminars on proper pet care, mental health awareness, substance abuse, elderly care and more. For more information about their work, visit the township website at hampton-pa.org/457/Social-Services or call the office at 412-486-0400.

Other important topics were on the agenda as well.

A new camera system will be installed overlooking the lake and the restrooms located centrally in Hampton Community Park.

“We’ve had two recent vandalizing cases at those restrooms so I think it is important to get cameras on that area of the park,” township Manager Ryan Jeroski said.

The park has cameras just about everywhere else so the addition of cameras for the lake area made sense, officials said.

“That’s the only small section where we don’t have camera footage currently. These cameras will integrate with our current system and can be zoomed in just like the others,” said Hampton police Chief Thomas Vulakovich.

The camera system will cost $16,866, with $15,000 of it being covered by a grant. The remaining funds will come from leftover money from projects that came in under budget.

Tom Goetz of Trans Associates spoke at the meeting regarding potential traffic-calming options for the intersection of Middle Road and Wildwood Road Extension.

Traffic monitoring technology was used to study the intersection, and results show the site qualifies for potential fixes such as stop signs or a traffic light, he said.

However, because the road is owned by Allegheny County, Hampton can provide suggestions but the final decision will be made by the county.

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