The Council of the Village of Woodsfield
May 19, 2025
The Council of the Village of Woodsfield met in Regular Session on May 19, 2025.
I. Roll Call:
Present: Council Members; Dale English, Tom Kirkland, Anthony McDaniel, Matt Schaber, Mayor Carol Hehr, Fiscal Officer Lori Cunard, Solicitor Ryan Regel and Village Administrator Kevin Brooks.
Absent: Council members Kaylee Sefert and Tiffany Ramsay.
II. Swearing in of new Police Officer:
Mayor Hehr asked Paul Chanell to come forward. Mr. Channell has been hired as a full-time Police Officer for the Police Department. Chief Jones said he has come from the Noble County Sheriff’s office with 14 years of law enforcement experience. He appreciates Mr. Channell coming aboard and being a member of the department. Paul Channell was sworn in by Mayor Hehr.
III. Pending Meeting Minutes Approval:
Dale English made the motion to approve the May 5, 2025 meeting minutes with corrections. Matt Schaber second. Kaylee Sefert and Tiffany Ramsay – absent. Motion passed 4-0.
IV. Registered Visitors:
Jayme Joy – Jayme Joy attended the meeting to thank Council and the Village for the help with the Alumni in years passed. She asked if they again would help by hanging the banners and allowing the parade for Alumni weekend. Mayor Hehr said we would absolutely hang the banners and allow the parade and asked if there was anything other than the usual that we need to do. Jayme Joy said everything would be the same as usual.
V. Old Business:
Matt Schaber asked about the website and if it would be updated any time soon. He said the minutes are not all there and some of the things going on in the Village are not on the website. He said It is lacking in information. Mayor Hehr suggested he make a list of what he thinks should be posted on the website and pass it along to Lori Cunard, Fiscal Officer so she can talk it over with Dan Denbow.
Matt Schaber said he gave 3 different drawings to Council of fencing ideas for around the playgrounds at the Village Parks. Kevin Brooks said he did share the documents at the Superintendent’s meeting this morning. He said he asked Steve Eikleberry, Park Superintendent, to call Hocking Valley Fence to get a price on this. Matt Schaber said he called Hocking Valley today and could not get through, so he called Premier Contracting and Fencing from Marietta, and they will be giving a cost estimate. Mayor Hehr said she would need the estimate within the next 10 days for the grant she is applying for. Matt Schaber said he should have the estimate tonight or tomorrow.
Matt Schaber asked if there is any other adult supervision at the pool other than Steve Eikleberry, Park Superintendent. Kevin Brooks replied there is not and that is part of the conversation we had when the Park Committee met with the American Legion. He also had a conversation with Solicitor Ryan Regel regarding personal service contracts and simply having volunteer adult supervision and it is a significant liability on the Village and PERSO will not cover us if they are not employees, so it is not doable. Kevin Brooks said we need to look at another plan and Mayor Hehr said she will be reporting about this later in the meeting under Mayor’s Report.
Matt Schaber asked if the creek had been looked at behind Palombi’s house. Kevin Brooks said they have been out there several times, and the issue is we cannot get equipment in the back to clean the culvert because it has been too wet, and we do not want to tear up someone’s property.
Matt Schaber asked about a pole on Jo Eddy’s property. Mayor Hehr said she spoke with Lewis Hill, Electric Superintendent, and sent an email to Jo Eddy. Lewis Hill is going to take our wires off, but AT&T has to take theirs off before we can remove the pole. Lewis Hill has contacted them 2 or 3 times and Kevin Brooks said by law we cannot touch their utilities, and they cannot touch ours. Kevin Brooks said we have tried to get AT&T to take care of this and numerous other situations around town. AT&T just does not seem to have a sense of urgency to come out and correct any of this.
VI. Administrator Report:
Village Administrator Kevin Brooks reported that the Village did receive a small government grant for the backwash piping at the Water Treatment Plant in the amount of $60,000.00. The total estimated cost of the project is $258,000.00 which will leave us about $43,000.00 short of being fully funded. Once the bids come in, we will see where we are at, but he is not interested in taking out a loan for the $40,000.00. He said we have money in Capital Projects and the Water Improvement Fund that can be used, but again we will wait and see where we are when the bids come in. Kevin Brooks said it is set to go out to bid on June 10th so we should know where we stand relatively soon.
Kevin Brooks said he has been contacted by R-CAP about renting the empty office space downstairs in the building. Currently, it is being used as storage space for the Police Department, but Chief Jones said he can move his things out of the office. R-CAP is willing to pay $350.00 per month for 3 days a week and they do not need phone service, but they will need internet service. They would be using it to hold meetings and would have the same office hours as we would, but we would issue a key and if Council agrees, they would probably be moved in around the 1st of June. Solicitor Regel asked if there would be a lease agreement and Kevin Brooks said it would be pending a lease agreement drawn up by Solicitor Regel and it would probably be a month-to-month agreement. Anthony McDaniel made a motion to rent office space to R-CAP pending the lease agreement to be drawn up by Solicitor Regel. Matt Schaber second. Kaylee Sefert and Tiffany Ramsay – absent. Motion passed 4-0.
Kevin Brooks stated that we need the Street Committee to get together as soon as possible because we have advertised the Street Superintendent’s job in the Beacon for the last 2 weeks. We have 4 applicants to date, so we really need to get someone hired. The Committee is Tom Kirkland, Anthony McDaniel, and Matt Schaber. Kevin Brooks is assuming they all want to be involved in the interview process, and he would like to interview on May 30th, in the morning. He would like to get the position filled as soon as possible because with Alumni weekend coming up there is striping to do downtown and street patching to do.
Kevin Brooks said he absolutely wants to commend the Electric Department for their response after the storm over the weekend. They did a fantastic job, but they did run into one problem of a vehicle being parked on the right of way and they could not get to a line. This has happened before, and they did not want to tow the vehicle but in the future the vehicle will be towed, and the property owner has been notified of this.
Kevin Brooks reported that we hired 2 more lifeguards at the Pool. Trista Morris @ $11.25/hr. and Raquel Stimpert @ $12.25/hr. Raquel Stimpert will serve as the Pool Supervisor. Anthony McDaniel made a motion to hire the 2 lifeguards at the stated hourly rates. Tom Kirkland second. Motion passed 4-0.
Mr. Brooks said Raymond Dalrymple, Park/Cemetery, has completed his probationary period and is eligible for a 3% increase in his wages. Dale English made a motion to increase Raymond Dalrymple’s wages by 3%, making his hourly wage $14.42/hr. Tom Kirkland second. Kaylee Sefert and Tiffany Ramsay – absent. Motion passed 4-0.
Kevin Brooks stated that Dan Haralson reached his 18-year anniversary for an increase in his vacation accrual. Matt Schaber made a motion to increase the vacation accrual for Dan Haralson’s 18-year anniversary. Anthony McDaniel second. Tom Kirkland – abstain. Kaylee Sefert and Tiffany Ramsay – absent. Motion passed 3-0.
VII. Fiscal Officer Report:
Fiscal Officer Lori Cunard reported that the Village received a check in the amount of $5,000.00 from Chelsea Bone from the Dearth Trust.
Lori Cunard said the Fiscal office will be closed Wednesday through Friday because she will be attending the MFOA Conference in Columbus and Brenda Mauck is on vacation.
Lori Cunard presented the idea to Council of changing office hours to four 10-hour days and the building being closed on Fridays. Kevin Brooks said this can be discussed with the proper Committee, but he feels we should have office hours on Friday even if they are limited. Anthony McDaniel said he would like to schedule a Finance Committee meeting for June 2nd, and we can further discuss this at that
time. Kevin Brooks asked if that would mean the building would be open 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.? Lori Cunard said the hours would probably be 7:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
VIII. Committee Chair/Council Reports:
Dale English – Dale English stated that due to the storm over the weekend, he received a phone call from the County regarding a lot of gravel washed into the road at the water tower. He called Kevin Brooks, and he sent a couple of guys out to clean it up. Dale English said County called him back and said the guys did a good job and thanked him.
Tom Kirkland – Tom Kirkland said at the last meeting they talked about the fence being torn down on the Village property on the corner of Main Street. It was put back up and by today the fence has mostly been torn back down.
Tom Kirkland said for the last 2 years we talked about closing some alleys. He said he is the chairman of the committee, and he would like to sit down and talk about this some more.
Kevin Brooks spoke up and said there are around 7 alleys that we would like to vacate, not close. They are not used, we maintain them, they are grassed over, and we have been in the process of trying to have the survey completed. When we vacate the alley, the property is shared by all adjoining property owners equally. The deal is we have to have a public hearing, and we have to make a notification before doing the hearing. We have been waiting for surveys for almost 2 years, so either they need to complete the surveys, or we will have someone else do it.
Mr. Brooks said he will have the list for Council in a couple of weeks and just to make them aware, not all property owners are going to agree to it, so that will be a decision Council will have to make.
Anthony McDaniel – Anthony McDaniel would like to schedule a Finance Committee meeting for June 2nd. Dale English spoke up and said he would not be able to be there.
Anthony McDaniel said he wanted to thank the Water Department crew for fixing the water leak last week in front of his property. Mayor Hehr said they came out about 8:00 p.m. and they were still out there at 1:00 a.m. She said people don’t appreciate that we call them and they show up. She said they come out, they don’t complain, they do their job, and she is very proud of them.
Kevin Brooks also commended the Street Department because we had 4 non-compliant properties, and the Park/Cemetery crew was a little behind in mowing due to the weather, so the Street Department mowed the properties.
Matt Schaber – Matt Schaber said he knows we are dealing with the EPA regarding the lot on the corner on Main Street but is there any way we can start cleaning it up. Kevin Brooks said we are not permitted to do anything about it until we get the all clear from the EPA.
Dale English asked who turned us in to the EPA to begin with. Kevin Brooks said we hired a certified EPA company called Raze to do the asbestos removal. We had a signed contract that Solicitor Regel reviewed. After the removal was done the EPA showed up and said the work was not done according to EPA protocols. Mr. Brooks said that he and Solicitor Regel had a conference call with the EPA and asked why they are coming back on the Village and the reason is because it is the Village’s property. The hope is that we will get the green light from the EPA to get it cleaned up for Alumni weekend. Mayor Hehr wanted to add that Raze is the company that the landbank deals with and they are EPA certified.
Matt Schaber asked what the Village can do to bring in business because we have several empty buildings in town. Kevin Brooks said part of the holdup is that property owners are not realistic about rental or lease amounts. We had an economic developer from northeast Ohio and were buying blocks of time at $7,500.00 a block. We were approximately $75,000.00 in on the contract, and we produced zero jobs, so Council made a conscious decision to cut ties because they did not feel we were getting anything out of it.
Mayor Hehr said she had someone contact her about a business and she went to 2 property owners, and neither were interested in renting or selling their property at that time.
IX. Solicitor’s Report:
Solicitor Regel reported that the Dispatch Services Contract has been reviewed by Chief Jones. It is currently being reviewed by the Prosecutor’s Office and the Sheriff’s Office and when he hears back from them, he will circulate for Council review.
Solicitor Regel said he also circulated the Brown Center Lease Agreement and if there are any questions or concerns let him know. Anthony McDaniel said he looked at it and he has no concerns about it.
X. Mayor’s Report:
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to approve the payment of bills. Anthony McDaniel made the motion. Dale English second. Kaylee Sefert and Tiffany Ramsay – absent. Motion passed 4-0.
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to approve the Mayor’s Court Report, mid-May 2025. Dale English made the motion. Anthony McDaniel second. Kaylee Sefert and Tiffany Ramsay – absent. Motion passed 4-0.
Mayor Hehr read a resignation from Council member Kaylee Sefert. Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to accept the resignation from Kaylee Sefert. Anthony McDaniel made a motion. Matt Schaber second. Tiffany Ramsay – absent. Motion passed 4-0. Solicitor Regel said Council has 30 days from the date of resignation to appoint someone and if Council fails to do so then the Mayor has the authority to appoint someone. Mayor Hehr said the position will be advertised and we will conduct interviews.
Anthony McDaniel said he would like to reschedule the Finance Committee to May 30th at 8:00 a.m.
Dale English said he served on committees with Kaylee Sefert and she did a really good job.
Mayor Hehr has a Resolution for a NatureWorks grant. She said we can apply for $14,777.00, our share would be approximately $3,694.00 and the total would be $18,471.00. Mayor Hehr said her plan is to get a handicap swing and the rest would go toward fencing at city park. She is not saying we can do it all but we will do what it pays for. Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to pass Resolution #2025-06, A Resolution stating that Mayor Carol Hehr is authorized and directed to execute and file an application with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and to provide all information and documentation required to become eligible for possible funding assistance. Mayor Hehr also wanted it to be known that when a grant is written you are tied to use the funds for what the grant is written for. Dale English made a motion. Tom Kirkland second. Tiffany Ramsay – absent. Matt Schaber – No. Matt Schaber feels the fencing that the Mayor is proposing will not do any good for what the residents are wanting. Mayor Hehr said it is a step in the right direction, but Matt Schaber said there is no gate, and it still will not keep kids from going out onto the street. Mayor Hehr said there is only so much we can do because the grant is for $18,000.00 and that includes our share. Matt Schaber said the 3 designs and prices he gave at the last Council meeting were all cheaper than that. Mayor Hehr said she was concerned because there was nothing that told her the gauge of the chain-link fence and Matt Schaber said it is a heavy gauge chain-link and it was on the paperwork. Kevin Brooks spoke up and said Mayor Hehr submitted the grant application today and however it works out, if we are approved, the best thing to do is to solicit bids on the chain-link fencing. Motion passed 4-1. Mayor Hehr said one of the things we need Is public input. She has a petition, for lack of a better word, that states the Council meeting was attended and the NatureWorks Grant was discussed for funding of a handicap swing and fencing at city park. She asked if any visitors in attendance would like to sign the petition after the meeting they can do so.
Mayor Hehr reported that the Community Strong Spring Fling was held on Saturday, they had 20 cars at the cruise-in but unfortunately there was a very small crowd. Mayor Hehr said it bothers her that people complain there isn’t anything to do in Woodsfield, so they take the time to plan events, and it is not well attended.
Mayor Hehr said on June 6th is Music in the Park, at this point there is unfortunately no food vendor for the evening.
Mayor Hehr said on July 3rd the Community Strong Committee has partnered with the Fire Department for the July 4th festivities. The Fire Department pays for the fireworks and the Community Strong will be doing Music in the Park at Memorial Park and there will be a walking parade with the Monroe Central Band leading. There will be food vendors and games for the kids.
Mayor Hehr reported that the Park Committee met last Wednesday evening regarding the pool. The American Legion would like to pay for the admission to the pool for 7 days a week for 3-months. Mayor Hehr said last summer the Kiwanis paid admissions for a weekend and we had well over 100 people show up at the pool. We appreciated Kiwanis doing this, but it was kind of a last-minute thing, and we did not have the lifeguards, so Lori Cunard and Mayor Hehr went out and worked the concession stand. Mayor Hehr said her concern is not money, we are always going to lose money operating the pool, her concern is the safety of the kids attending the pool. She said the Park Committee is recommending the
American Legion paying admission for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday only at $100.00 per day or if they prefer, and they have a certain amount of money they are wanting to spend then they can come out to the pool and pay for passes for kids. Steve Eikleberry, Park Superintendent, will be able to stop out several times throughout the day on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesdays to check on things. The rules for the pool will be posted and enforced. Kevin Brooks wanted to clarify if anyone would get into the pool for free or just 18 and under. Mayor Hehr said it will be anyone, including adults.
Anthony McDaniel asked to be sure that our lifeguards have the discretion to eject anyone not following our rules from the pool, no questions asked. Mayor Hehr said they absolutely have the discretion to eject anyone from the pool, even for the whole summer. Anthony McDaniel feels we need to make sure that our lifeguards know they do have the authority to eject anyone not following pool rules and if someone is not honoring that authority then that is what our Police Department is for.
Mayor Hehr said the flowers for downtown will be here this week. She wanted everyone to know that the reason she went out of town for the flowers was because she did not know last year that Westfall’s take the orders during the month of September before the spring season. She was able to order from Malaga Greenhouse last year and since we already have the baskets, they can just refill them each year, which makes the cost less.
XI. Adjourn:
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Dale English made the motion. Tom Kirkland second. Tiffany Ramsay – absent. Motion passed 4-0. Metting adjourned at 6:45 p.m.
ATTEST:
___________________________ ____________________________
Carol Hehr, Mayor Lori Cunard, Fiscal Officer