The Council of the Village of Woodsfield
December 16, 2024
The Council of the Village of Woodsfield met in Regular Session on December 16, 2024.
I. Roll Call:
Present: Council Members; Dale English, Tom Kirkland, Anthony McDaniel, Kaylee Sefert, Tiffany Ramsay, Matt Schaber, Mayor Carol Hehr, Fiscal Officer Lori Cunard, Village Administrator Kevin Brooks and Solicitor Ryan Regel.
II. Pending Meeting Minutes Approval:
Dale English made the motion to accept the December 2, 2024 meeting minutes with corrections. Kaylee Sefert second. Motion passed 6-0.
III. Registered Visitors/Guest:
Jeff Rice – Mr. Rice had attended the last Council meeting to discuss the issue of cats in the Village. He is attending the meeting tonight to discuss a possible solution to the issue.
Mr. Rice said he received the financials the next morning that he had asked for at the last meeting.
Mr. Rice said he had an awkward conversation with Mayor Hehr by phone and posted some things on-line. He has taken it upon himself to see if there is anything he can do as a resident because he understands there is not much funding for stray cats. Mr. Rice said that as an individual, not as an animal rescue, if he were to establish a 501(3)(c) he could qualify for some grants that would help with a trap, neuter and release program. He asked if he has to have a permit or written permission from the Village to do a trap and release program. He does not want to cause any legal problems for himself, but he wants to assist with the problem, not cause more problems for himself. Mr. Rice said for it to work, everyone will have to pitch in on this, it can’t be just one person. Chief Jones said he does not need a permit, but he cannot trespass on to someone else’s property. Solicitor Ryan Regel suggested that Mr. Rice get his establishment of the non-profit and then come back to Council to discuss the program and if it is a viable option. Mr. Rice said there are also programs out there that will spay/neuter a cat for free that has been trapped. If a property owner says they have some stray cats running around on their property and asks Mr. Rice to set a trap, would there be an issue in doing so? Solicitor Regel said to check the Ordinance regarding that because he does not want to go on record and say we wouldn’t do anything because there are a lot of hypotheticals. Mr. Rice said the Ordinance says cats have to be contained and if not, they can be trapped and relocated at the owner’s expense. Mr. Rice said he also wants to build an additional structure on his property where he can home these cats after they are recovering from being captured, health checked and spay/neuter before releasing them back into the population if he cannot re-home them. Mayor Hehr said her concern about trapping them and keeping them in a building is that if one cat is sick then all of the cats are going to get sick. Mr. Rice said
the cats that have been through health check and spayed/neutered will be kept in a separate part of the building. He has also checked into the possibility of organizations that help people with disabilities and companion pets. He said this will all take time, and his biggest issue right now is trapping the animals without violating city ordinance and he also has to check building codes for the structure on his back lot. Council member Anthony McDaniel spoke up and said that he spent some time going over Village Ordinance and he does not think our current Ordinance is feasible for our Village layout and priorities. Mr. McDaniel said it is written for legal ease and leaves things open for interpretation. He said Solicitor Regel has already stated the problem is the issue of ownership of the cats. Mr. McDaniels suggestion is that if there are people willing to be involved in this then there should be a committee established to re-write the Ordinance so that it fits with the Village capabilities. Mayor Hehr stated that we do have an Ordinance Committee. Mr. McDaniel said if the Committee would look at the Ordinance, he suggests involving Mr. Rice because he is willing to take the time and go a step beyond a standard citizen. He feels an Ordinance should be in place that doesn’t burden Chief Jones, the Fiscal Officer, or the Village Administrator with undo work that would take from other areas and also that would fall into what we can legally do. Mr. McDaniel said he does not want to see Mr. Rice get into trouble for trapping someone’s pet and he said he knows there are other communities facing the same issue. Mayor Hehr said she does not want to trap someone’s cat and they sue Mr. Rice but ultimately it comes back on the
Village. Mr. Rice said that is why the Ordinance needs to be re-written because it is too vague now. He is willing to take steps to try and correct the problem, but he wants to make sure he and the Village is within the letter of the law and doesn’t want to make more issues from the problem. Mayor Hehr said she contacted a couple of Villages today and Caldwell told her there is an organization called PAWS. She called and left a message and will call Mr. Rice to let him know what she finds out from them. Mr. Rice said there are programs that can assist in a trap and spay/neuter program and wanted to know who to put them in contact with at the Village and Mayor Hehr said she would be the contact
Matt Schaber spoke up and said that if a cat is licensed and is trapped then it can be returned to the owner. Anthony McDaniel said they have explored cat licensing before, and County is not willing to do it. He said we would have to do it so that is why he thinks this should be referred to the Ordinance Committee and re-write the Ordinance because we would have to charge a fee for the licensing of cats. Mr. Schaber said that it would be a way of knowing who the owner of the cats is and we could begin to site the owners. Mr. Rice said the Ordinance does say that if the cat is not contained it is subject to the same fines as a dog.
IV. Old Business:
Matt Schaber asked if anyone other than himself had gone out and looked into the Britta Palombi property. Mayor Hehr said she had talked to Andy Copley, Street Superintendent, about it and he was going to go out and check it. However, she said she has not followed up with him about it. Kevin Brooks said he did not mention it at the Superintendents meeting this morning either. Mr. Brooks said they will follow up on the property tomorrow.
V. Administrator Report:
Village Administrator Kevin Brooks reported that due to Anthem not wanting to take on all of our employees, we have stayed with United HealthCare even with the 30% increase. After running the numbers Mr. Brooks said we would like to pick up the 30% increase for 2025 on the employee contribution and communicate to staff that any increase in 2026 would fall on them. We are doing this due to the late notice and it ended up being around $18,000.00 -19,000.00. We are giving ample notice to staff that if it goes up next year the cost will more than likely have to be passed on to them. He feels that due to the late notice, the right thing to do is to pick up the extra cost for the staff.
He also discussed that next year we will start the process a little earlier. Even though we started checking into other coverage about 3 months ago we had a hard time scheduling a staff meeting and they wanted us to sign a contract before we had the terms. Then we found out that Anthem was not going to take on all of our employees, so we were boxed in with United HealthCare. Tom Kirkland made a motion for the Village to pick up the increase to the employee contribution of the United Healthcare premium for 2025. Tiffany Ramsay seconded the motion. Motion passed 6-0. Kevin Brooks said again that he passed on to staff that any increase for 2026 will more than likely be passed on to them, but it will be looked at and if it is a nominal amount the decision will be up to Council.
Kevin Brooks said on January 6th Council meeting we will start year-end re-caps and preview of 2026. He is going to schedule two superintendents per meeting.
Mr. Brooks said he has several things for Executive Session at the end of the meeting. He needs to discuss acquisition of property, sale of property, employment of public employee, consultation with legal counsel pending litigation, action may or may not be taken.
VI. Fiscal Officer Report:
Nothing to report.
VII. Committee Chair/Council Reports:
Dale English – Nothing to report.
Tom Kirkland – Nothing to report.
Anthony McDaniel – Nothing to report.
Kaylee Sefert – Nothing to report.
Tiffany Ramsay – Nothing to report.
Matt Schaber – Nothing to report.
VIII: Solicitor’s Report:
Nothing to report.
IX: Mayor’s Report:
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to approve the payment of bills. Tiffany Ramsay made the motion. Kaylee Sefert second. Motion passed 6-0.
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to approve the Mayor’s Court report, mid-December 2024. Dale English made the motion. Anthony McDaniel second. Motion passed 6-0.
Mayor Hehr reported that unfortunately the Village did not get approved for the NatureWorks Grant for the Park but she is looking into some other ways to fund the project and when she comes up with something she will let everyone know. Kevin Brooks spoke up to say that we have been funded through the NatureWorks Grant for six cycles in a row, mainly because we were the only applicants. Regardless of the strength of the application, because we were funded six times in a row, he thinks it led the group to fund someone else. He commended Mayor Hehr for trying for the seventh cycle, but he does not think that it was because we didn’t have a worthy application, but it was because there was another applicant for Monroe County.
X. Un-registered Visitors:
Lynn Parker – Mr. Parker attended because he wanted to know if in the past if the Village of Woodsfield has ever gone through the process of outsourcing our electrical grid. He does not mean just the grid but the management, maintenance, billing, infrastructure, or technology improvements. Mayor Hehr said she doesn’t think we have had any reason to do that. Mr. Parker said he knows the system is very antiquated and we have been hearing complaints about the power grid. During the last meeting Mr. Kirkland brought up the subject of budgeting each year for infrastructure improvements. He believes there could be an opportunity to benefit the Village and go out and outsource. Mr. Parker said he would offer his services; he has close to 40 years of experience in mergers and acquisitions. He would offer his services in reviewing financial implications and benefits to then come back to Council to see if there is an opportunity to hire a third party to go through a due diligence process. Mr. Parker said we may find it doesn’t make sense, but we may also find it does make sense. He said the first thing that comes to mind when you talk about outsourcing is that our workers will be replaced but that is not necessarily the case. He asked Council if this is something they are willing to entertain for the Village. Anthony McDaniel asked if Mr. Parker could put together something showing his experience for Council to look at. Mr. Parker said he can put together a resume’ but he said his experience is not in electric utility and he will not do it by himself. He said he will take the time to put together a resume’ if Council will keep an open mind regarding this. Mayor Hehr said she appreciates his offer, and this is something that would have to be discussed. Mr. Parker asked if he could be put on the agenda for the next meeting and Anthony McDaniel asked if Mr. Parker would please give Kevin Brooks his information.
Brent Dick – Brent DIck spoke up and said that he agrees there are issues with the electric but the problems we will run into is when asking residents with 60-amp service to upgrade, who will subsidize the cost.
Brent Dick talked to Council about the Brown Center. He said it came to be in 1996, and the concept was that it was to be a community center. No one makes any money off of it and there are meetings every month. Ihas been relayed to him that it would be a good relationship for the Village to take over the Brown Center. Mr. Dick said based on the by-laws it would have to remain as The Brown Community Center and he said the Catholic Church has no ownership in the building. He said the land was purchased from the Diocese of Steubenville and if it were to ever sell, it has to have 2 appraisals, and they have to be given the offer to buy the land back.
Mr. Dick is meeting with an attorney on January 6th and he would like to see the Village take over the Brown Center, he thinks it would be a valuable asset.
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to go into Executive Session regarding acquisition of property, sale of property, and to consult with our legal counsel, action may or may not be taken. Tom Kirkland made the motion. Matt Schaber second. Motion passed 6-0. Executive Session entered at 6:10 p.m.
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to go back into Regular Session. Dale English made the motion. Anthony McDaniel second. Motion passed 6-0. Regular Session entered at 6:45 p.m.
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion for Solicitor Ryan Regel to prepare a proposal for sale of property. Anthony McDaniel made the motion. Matt Schaber second. Motion passed 6-0.
XI. Adjourn:
The Mayor asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Kaylee Sefert made the motion. Matt Schaber second. Motion passed 6-0. The meeting was adjourned at 6:48 p.m.
ATTEST:
___________________________ ____________________________
Carol Hehr, Mayor Lori Cunard, Fiscal Officer