While holding his two-and-half-month-old daughter, Shonn Hank Cobb smiled at his fiancé, Shyenna Wheeler, as she pinned a badge on his chest.
Dunbar City Council welcomed Cobb as its newest firefighter during its meeting Monday. Dunbar Mayor Terry Greenlee administered an oath of service before council.
"[Cobb] is glad to be here and the guys are awful glad to have another fellow on hand," Fire Chief Butch Ellis said.
Cobb, a native of Red House, thanked council and the citizens for the opportunity. He will serve as a probationary firefighter for one year, and will also complete a three-year apprenticeship.
Ellis is looking forward to Cobb learning the ropes.
"We've been running short for about two and half years now," Ellis said. "We're trying to get replacements in to get back to full staff."
Council approved allowing Ellis to move forward in filling that vacancy.
"We need to fill this position as fast as we can," Ellis said. "Some guys like the smaller department feel [like Dunbar] where they get to do more and be more involved in every facet of it and some of them want to go to somewhere bigger."
Also on Monday, council approved sending two police officers to tactical training at the Panthera Training Center in Old Fields, West Virginia. "In today's times, with all the shootings, we just want our officers as sharp as we can get them," Greenlee said. "There's nothing wrong with training, keeping up with the times."
The week-long training will cost about $3,000 and will cover "high-risk" entry for instances such as executing a search warrant or responding to an active shooter.
"This is going to enhance their current training that they've had and it is going to make them more capable to respond," Police Chief Jesse Bailes said. "Training is on-going and this is a good step."
Greenlee said the city would continue to invest in police training.
Council voted Monday to table its search for a new K9 officer for six months.
"We just want to make sure we are being prudent in how we are moving forward and this allows us more time to further research," Bailes said.
Greenlee said the police department has other priorities it needs to deal with before taking on a new K9 officer and all that entails.
"[The K9 officer search] isn't off, it's just on the back burner," Greenlee said.
In other business, council approved increasing the fire chief's pay on second reading and also approved August 1 meeting minutes