The Council of the Village of Woodsfield
April 17, 2025
The Council of the Village of Woodsfield met in a Special Session on April 17, 2025.
After the Pledge of Allegiance while everyone was still standing Mayor Hehr asked for a moment of silence in remembrance of Andy Copley, Street Superintendent, who passed away this morning.
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, Solicitor Ryan Regel and Village Administrator Kevin Brooks.
II. Old Business:
The purpose of tonight’s Special Meeting is to discuss the contract for the Sheriff’s Office. She asked Council if they wanted to go into Executive Session to do so. Anthony McDaniel stated that he thinks the public deserves to know why the Special Meeting was called tonight, there has been enough behind the scenes.
Mayor Hehr said she wanted Council to know that she had a 2-hour meeting with Sheriff Derek Norman this afternoon and she has information she would like to share but she asked Anthony McDaniel to go ahead and start the conversation.
Anthony McDaniel stated as everyone knows the Sheriff’s office has requested some financial assistance from the Village. They are asking for around the $50,000.00 mark. The Finance Committee met and because of some unpaid bills the County has with the Village, the Village is only willing to pay $10,000.00. This was relayed back to the County, and we were told it is either $50,000.00 or we would face the possibility of the Sheriff’s office no longer dispatching our Police Department. Mr. McDaniel had asked the Sheriff what cost savings the County would have by not dispatching our Police Department and the answer was there would be no savings. The Sheriff stated that he would dispatch deputies at the request for Police within the Village limits even though the Village has a fully functioning Police Department most of the time. So, not only is it not saving the 9-1-1 Center any money, but it is increasing the workload of the deputies already out there. Anthony McDaniel feels as though this is just a punishment to the Village for not paying the amount County has requested. He stated that the financial offer made was after fairly diligent research of what other Villages of similar size are paying for 9-1-1 service. He wanted this on public record because so far most of this information has only been given behind closed doors. Tom Kirkland said he agrees with Anthony McDaniel.
Mayor Hehr said her main concern since the beginning is our Police Department. She said they will have no back-up and if they need someone, they will have to take out their cell phone and dial 9-1-1. She said she is not willing to jeopardize any of these young men in our Police Department for $50,000.00. She also said we could lose our Police Department and then have to work with the Sheriff’s Department. Mayor Hehr said she does not want to be the one to get a call saying we have lost one of our Police Officer’s because they responded to a call and could not get any back-up.
Mayor Hehr made a proposal to Sheriff Norman today. The proposal was for $50,000.00, which we would pay 10 months of that amount in July and if their levy is passed, we would not pay any more and if their levy does not pass, we would pay the extra 2 months. Sheriff Norman did agree to that, but he would have to talk it over with the Prosecutor first.
Mayor Hehr said she is just asking for us to give Chief Corey Jones time to establish if we can set up a dispatch system on our own because we have no idea if we can do it.
Mayor Hehr said she asked Sheriff Norman if he is going to shut us off if we did not pay and he said yes. She asked him when and he stated it would be 30 days from when he and Chief Corey Jones first met and discussed which was March 28, 2025.
Chief Corey Jones said his opinion of the situation has changed drastically from the beginning to now due to the fact that he has no contingency plan and there is no plan for him to have as far as back-up options. His recommendation is to pay the fee even though he hates to do so but he does not want to gamble with the idea of possibly being shut off from dispatch. Chief Jones said if they get shut off from dispatch the future of the Police Department is extremely grim. He said he would not expect his guys to continue to show up for work with no lines of communication.
Dale English spoke up and said that our residents passed a levy for our Police Department and not to pass the levy funds on to the County. He feels the County is just trying to hold us hostage. He said the County has blown all of their money and now are reaching out to whoever they can to get money in.
Anthony McDaniel spoke up and said that he respectfully disagrees with Mayor Hehr. He said there is one person who will make the decision on whether they will dispatch our Police Department or not and they are not even in this room. Mayor Hehr said our residents are our responsibility, but Anthony McDaniel said they are Sheriff Norman’s responsibility also.
Matt Schaber asked if Sheriff Norman has a back-up plan. Mayor Hehr said he is just doing everything he can to keep the 9-1-1 service. Matt Schaber said he was aware of the situation when he took the job.
Chief Jones said he sure hopes no one would expect the Police Department to continue to do the daily operations in the capacity of an actual Police Officer’s sworn duties without a line of communication with a dispatcher. He said he doesn’t think anyone would disagree that is posing a safety issue.
Kevin Brooks said if we were to look at an 8-month period of time, from May 1, 2025 – December 31, 2025, and pro-rate the $50,000.00 it would be roughly $33,000.00. He thinks 8 months would be enough time to get dispatch ready.
Mayor Hehr said if we come up with an amount, Sheriff Norman said it would be contingent on the agreement language. Also, in the levy language, if the levy passes no Sheriff can ask the Village for any more money during the levy period.
Kevin Brooks said he does not have a vote, but he is agreeable to the $33,000.00 for the 8-month period to give us time to decide on whether we will do our dispatching and invest in our own Police Department. After that he does not agree with giving them another nickel.
Anthony McDaniel asked why we do not own our radios and if we own our radio’s we cannot be stopped from using them. He said there are 2 other public safety entities in the county that use radios that we could ask for help. The possibility of using their radio systems for infrastructure that already exists and that we used prior to the MARCS system being in place and that is the UHF that Fire and EMS uses, we have options.
Kevin Brooks spoke up and said he is assuming you need a license for MARCS channel 56, which would take some time. That is why he agrees to pay the $33,000.00 to get us through May 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025 to figure out what we are going to do. Mr. Brooks also stated that the money will come from the Police Levy proceeds because we do not want to compromise the General Fund.
Dale English asked Chief Corey Jones if 8 months would be enough time to start a dispatch. Chief Jones said he cannot promise it will be enough time, but he is willing to do his best.
Anthony McDaniel said Sheriff Norman is not even a Village resident and if he wants to dictate the terms of our financial situation then he should move into the Village and take a Council seat. Mayor Hehr said she does not believe he is trying to dictate our financial situation.
Kevin Brooks said again that doing the 8 months will bridge the gap and give us time to think about what we are going to do. If Sheriff Norman does not accept our offer of $33,000.00 that is on him and reflects poorly on him and not us.
Tom Kirkland said he does not like the whole situation that the County has put us in. He feels that no matter how he votes it is not in the best interest of the Village. He feels he is put in a position where he cannot represent the people of this Village the way he promised to do.
Solicitor Ryan Regel wants the record to reflect that he did meet with James Peters and the Sheriff on March 20,2025. He said they had a 2-hour discussion about the negotiating process. He has given Council the legal analysis and the options are that we pay the Sheriff’s department, or we don’t pay and risk him shutting off dispatch for our Police Department. If we are shut off from dispatch, then we will be forced to find another entity that would handle dispatch services for us, or we would be in a position where we would have to start our own dispatch for the Police Department. Solicitor Regel said those things are important and both would have long term effects moving forward. He said he is not sure he understands what the amount is because he understood the amount that had been negotiated was $50,000.00 minus the LEADS system that has been paid or else he would cut dispatch off. Now the pro-rated version is less than what he had demanded so if Council is going to make a motion what is the exact amount going to the Sheriff’s office for dispatch services. Kevin Brooks said we will give the 8
months to get us through the end of the year. Solicitor Regel said he is just saying that amount was never talked about with them so this essentially is a counter proposal and there is the possibility the Sheriff could reject it, and Solicitor Regel understood the $50,000.00 was a take it or leave it offer. Kevin Brooks said it was his understanding there was an option to pay monthly or to pay half and there were proposals to pay monthly. He said if we were already offered to pay monthly then that is contrary to what they had negotiated with Solicitor Regel. Solicitor Regel said he took it that Council was in a position to make a one-time payment and now if they are going to do a payment option, he thinks it is important to be very clear what the amount is because he understood the Sheriff wanted the $50,000.00 payment by the end of this year. Mayor Hehr and Chief Jones agreed that Sheriff Norman wants the full amount by the end of December 2025. Chief Jones said Council just needs to decide tonight because after talking with Sheriff Norman yesterday, if they do not hear anything tonight it will be taken as a no.
Dale English asked if Sheriff Norman agreed that if their levy passes, then they would not ask for any more money from the Village for the life of the levy and Mayor Hehr said he did agree. Dale English asked this to be in writing. Solicitor Regel said if an agreement is reached, a contract will be drafted and entered into, and those terms will be included in the contract.
Kevin Brooks feels the contract should be written up to say we will pay them $33,000.00 up front. Then we would have the mutual option in December 2025 to pay the other $17,000.00. He said in the 8-month period if we cannot establish dispatch, and we need a few more months, then we would have the option to pay for the other 4 months and if we can establish dispatch then we would not owe anything else.
Dale English asked if we could have a contract by Monday evening’s Council meeting, but Solicitor Regel said first something would have to be agreed upon, so we have something to move forward on. He said contingent on Prosecutor Peter’s schedule they may have time to have a contract written for Monday meeting.
Matt Schaber made the motion to pay the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office $50,000.00 contingent on the agreement of a payment plan of $33,000.00 up front and the option of paying the remainder of $17,000.00 in December 2025 and this to be a one-time one-year payment. Matt Schaber offered to help Chief Jones with the research for 9-1-1 services. Kaylee Serfert second. Motion passed 5-1. Tom Kirkland wanted it known that he is voting yes only because there is no good option. He feels he does not have a choice and voting yes is the lesser of two evils. Dale English also wanted it known that he is voting yes only if this will be the end.
III. Adjourn:
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Kaylee Sefert made the motion. Matt Schaber second. Motion passed 6-0. The meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m.
ATTEST:
___________________________ ____________________________
Carol Hehr, Mayor Lori Cunard, Fiscal Officer