The Council of the Village of Woodsfield
July 21, 2025
The Council of the Village of Woodsfield met in Regular Session on July 21, 2025.
I. Roll Call:
Present: Council Members; Dale English, Tom Kirkland, Alicia Gardner, Tiffany Ramsay, Matt Schaber, Mayor Carol Hehr, Fiscal Officer Lori Cunard, Village Administrator Kevin Brooks and Solicitor Ryan Regel.
Absent: Council member Anthony McDaniel.
II. Pending Meeting Minutes Approval:
Tiffany Ramsay made the motion to accept the July 7, 2025 meeting minutes with corrections. Matt Schaber second. Anthony McDaniel – absent. Motion passed 5-0.
III. Registered Visitors:
None
IV. Old Business:
Matt Schaber asked if the Property Maintenance Committee had heard from any of the residents who received letters in regard to the demolition of properties. Mayor Hehr said they have not heard from anyone else, and Tiffany Ramsay would give a report during the Committee reports.
Matt Schaber asked if Property Maintenance would be the ones to report to about hedges covering sidewalks? Matt Schaber said at 307 Eastern Ave. there are hedges overhanging three-quarters of the sidewalks. Tiffany Ramsay said she had not heard of it, but Kevin Brooks said this would be an issue for the Police Department. Mayor Hehr said if they are just overgrown, she is not sure we can do anything, but Matt Schaber said you cannot walk on the sidewalk at all due to the hedges. Kevin Brooks said he would talk with the Police Department so they can notify the property owner to trim the hedges back.
Matt Schaber asked about the fund that was opened for the spaying and neutering of cats. He asked if part of the K-9 Funds could be used for that purpose since the Village no longer has a K-9. Lori Cunard, Fiscal Officer, said the K-9 Fund cannot be used for spaying and neutering cats. Mayor Hehr said that Cole Minder, Sewer Department, has offered to be the one to trap the cats for the Village. There is a license or certification needed to do this, but it is a very simple process. The Village has $1,000.00 which is enough money to do 7 cats unless there are donations that come in.
Kevin Brooks told Matt Schaber that we did check with the State about using the K-9 Fund due to the dollar amount. We are very restricted and cannot redistribute or re-allocate the money for something else, it has to be held for K-9 related expenses.
V. Administrator Report:
Village Administrator Kevin Brooks reported that Carter Knowlton, Water/Sewer Laborer has resigned effective July 31, 2025, he asked for a motion to accept the resignation. Dale English made the motion. Tom Kirkland second. Anthony McDaniel – absent. Motion passed 5-0. The Water/Sewer Department will be hiring.
Kevin Brooks asked for a motion to award the bid for the backwash piping at the Water Treatment Plant to RDR Utility Services in the amount of $245,000.00. Tiffany Ramsay made the motion. Matt Schaber second. Anthony McDaniel – absent. Motion passed 5-0. Kevin Brooks reminded Council that this project is being funded through ARC as well as OPWC Small Government and we are 95% grant funded for the project.
Kevin Brooks said the next contract is awarded to Border Patrol. LLC in the amount of $1,886,943.00 for contract #1 of the Water/Wastewater System Improvements, he asked for a motion to approve the award of the bid from Council. Tom Kirkland made the motion. Dale English second. Anthony McDaniel – absent. Motion passed 5-0. Kevin Brooks said this project bid is about $200,000.00 under the engineers’ estimate, so we have some space in the project.
Kevin Brooks said the third contract is awarded to M. O’Herron Company in the amount of $2,998,339.00 and this is also for Water/Wastewater Improvements. He said we are receiving $4 million
in principal forgiveness, and the balance will be taken out in a long term 0% interest loan, it will be a 30-year loan with the EPA. Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to approve the award of the bid. Tom Kirkland made a motion. Matt Schaber second. Anthony McDaniel – absent. Motion passed 5-0.
Kevin Brooks said we advertised for qualifications for engineering for the conversion of the Electric System high voltage lines from 2400 to 7200. We have selected, based on qualifications, Verdantas to do engineering. The next step is for Council to approve Verdantas so we can negotiate a contract for the engineering for the conversion to 7200. Kevin Brooks said this will be a very lengthy project and extremely expensive. It is a long-term investment for the Village to get the electric converted. We have been putting aside a little money to do the engineering and also part of the contract is going to be to research grant funds. Dale English made the motion. Tiffany Ramsay second. Anthony McDaniel – absent. Motion passed 5-0.
Kevin Brooks requested Executive Session regarding Personnel/Compensation at the end of the meeting and there may or may not be action taken.
VI. Fiscal Officer Report:
Lori Cunard reported that James Bates will be here tomorrow morning for the post-audit at 9:00 a.m. and it is not open to the public.
Mayor Hehr asked about the paving bid in Council packets. Kevin Brooks said we had contracted with Stouffer Construction to do additional paving outside the scope of Airport Rd., which was funded through CDBG and Village funds. We contracted with Stouffers to do approximately $58,000.00 additional paving. When looking at streets and alleys to be paved, we decided to add to that and the contract went from $58,000.00, which Council approved, to $70,963.00. We decided while Stouffers was in town it was the best time to add more paving to the bid. Kevin Brooks asked for a motion to amend the contract for Stouffer’s Construction from the amount of $58,000.00 to $70,963.00. Matt Schaber made the motion. Tiffany Ramsay second. Anthony McDaniel – absent. Motion passed 5-0.
VII. Committee Chair/Council Reports:
Matt Schaber – Matt Schaber asked at the State level, if they override the governments veto on property taxes, what will that do to the Village? Kevin Brooks said a significant amount of our funding comes from property taxes so it would absolutely affect us. He said it is his understanding that there are measures in place that will replace that funding. Mr. Brooks said the bulk of our funding comes from income tax and we are probably one of the few entities that still only have a 1% income tax rate and 1% is the amount that can be levied without a ballot referendum. Realistically, we probably should be at 1.25-1.50% income tax rate. We are doing well with what we have, but we have to be careful because we have built up the General Fund and we don’t want it to go back down to where it was 6 years ago.
Tiffany Ramsay – Tiffany Ramsay reported that the Property Maintenance Committee met before the Council meeting. She said they discussed the properties that the letters had been sent on in regard to demolition and what the next steps will be going forward. The next Property Maintenance meeting will be on August 4th @ 4:30 p.m.
The final Music in the Park for the season will be held on August 1st at City Park.
Mayor Hehr wanted to add to Tiffany Ramsay’s report that the Property Maintenance Committee would like to have 2 or 3 houses torn down. There is money in the Property Maintenance Fund to do so. She stated that everyone needs to understand that we can go after the money, we can put it on taxes but that does not mean we will get it. There are 8 or 9 houses with no one living in them, so they are going to contact the inspector again and see if he will come out and look at these houses.
Alicia Gardner – Nothing to report.
Tom Kirkland – Tom Kirkland asked where we are at as far as vacating of the alleys. There are quite a few that we talked about doing. Solicitor Ryan Regel said there are 3 plats that were circulated to Council at the last meeting. He said there is a fourth, but we do not have a plat for that one yet. Kevin Brooks said we do have a plat, but we just don’t have the hard copy on hand. The survey work has
already been done and once it is in hand, we will pass a Resolution and get the public hearing scheduled. Solicitor Regel said the Ordinance has been prepared but the attachment for the plat is needed.
Kevin Brooks said the adjoining property owners will be notified that they are gaining property. When vacating, the adjoining property owners will share the property equally, so they will be notified of a public hearing 30 days in advance.
Tom Kirkland asked where we are at on the Brown Center. Solicitor Regel said he just gave it to Mayor Hehr for her signature, now we need the other parties signature to finalize. Kevin Brooks said we have had access to the Brown Center for a couple of months and have had the ability to use it, and we have cut grass, but we have not maintained the inside of the building. Tom Kirkland asked that he be notified when the contract is final.
Dale English – Nothing to report.
Anthony McDaniel – Absent
VIII: Solicitor’s Report:
Solicitor Ryan Regel asked for Executive Session regarding pending litigation at the end of the meeting.
IX: Mayor’s Report:
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to approve the payment of bills. Tiffany Ramsay made the motion. Matt Schaber second. Anthony McDaniel – absent. Motion passed 5-0.
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to approve the Mayor’s Court Report, mid-July 2025. Dale English made the motion. Tom Kirkland second. Anthony McDaniel – absent. Motion passed 5-0.
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to pass Ordinance #09-2025, An Ordinance Amending Chapter 351 of the Codified Ordinances of the Village of Woodsfield, Ohio Addressing Parking Within the Village of Woodsfield, Ohio and Declaring an Emergency. Dale English made the motion. Tiffany Ramsay second.
Kevin Brooks spoke up and said this is a result of doing away with the parking meters in town. The Ordinance had never been updated to enforce 2-hour parking in the downtown, particularly the four business quadrants. There are tenants in one of the buildings downtown who take up multiple spots all day long, which is unacceptable, and businesses are upset about it. The ordinance has been revised so we can enforce and tow and we intend on doing so immediately. Tom Kirkland – yes, Alicia Gardner – yes, Matt Schaber – yes, Anthony McDaniel – absent. Motion passed 5-0.
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to suspend the rules, declaring an emergency, to pass Ordinance #09-2025 by its second reading. Tom Kirkland made the motion. Matt Schaber second. Dale English – yes, Alicia Gardner – yes, Tiffany Ramsay – yes, Anthony McDaniel – absent. Motion passed 5-0.
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to suspend the rules, declaring an emergency, to pass Ordinance #09-2025, by its third reading and adopt. Matt Schaber made the motion. Tiffany Ramsay second. Dale English – yes, Tom Kirkland – yes, Alicia Gardner – yes, Anthony McDaniel – absent. Motion passed 5-0. Ordinance #09-2025 adopted.
Mayor Hehr said she attended a CDIS meeting last week at the extension office. She said it was basically a meeting regarding community development block grants. She found out the Village does not qualify as an LMI town because you have to be 51% or above in order to qualify and we are at 47.7%. Mayor Hehr said this means we cannot apply for a CDBG grant. The $750,000.00 we have applied for in the past, we cannot do for the next 4 years. Mayor Hehr questioned what we can do about this. She was told we can choose a small project and in order to qualify we will have to do an income survey which means we would have to go door to door. Mayor Hehr suggests looking at the paving project on Andover Rd. and Sycamore St. and the addresses within the project will be submitted to the State. The State would then pick the addresses to do the surveys so we would not have to go to every address within the project. She said she will keep Council notified as we go, but she stressed that she would need everyone’s help with the surveys. Mayor Hehr said we really need to stress to the residents that we need their help, and they need to be honest because it is going to benefit them.
Mayor Hehr said she spoke with John Williams and he and his guys were able to get the job done on Hillcrest for the Palombi’s.
Kevin Brooks said we are trying to allocate money every year to paving but with the cost of paving we are not getting a lot done. We have tried to leverage our money against grant applications; some have been successful and some have not. This is why it is important for us to do the LMI surveys and try and get CDBG funding.
Kevin Brooks also said we have talked about getting collared shirts as identifiers to residents for the Council members to wear when doing the surveys. Dale English asked how we know if people are being honest on the surveys. Mayor Hehr said you don’t know, but people need to understand that their honesty is going to help the Village.
X. Un-Registered Visitors/Guest:
Kim Schaber – Kim Schaber wanted to let Council know that a group of friends and herself are doing a hide-and-seek project in and around the Village. They are hiding rocks painted blue with a red heart and the message is that you can find something to love where you live. They are planning on hiding them at the Parks, the pool, and some historical sites in town. This is a low-key national thing, and it is “paint a rock build some love.” She just wanted to give Council and the Police Chief a heads-up on what they are doing.
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to go into Executive Session regarding Personnel/Compensation and Pending litigation. Matt Schaber made the motion. Tiffany Ramsay second. Anthony McDaniel – absent. Motion passed 5-0. Executive Session entered at 5:56 p.m.
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to go back into Regular Session. Tiffany Ramsay made the motion. Matt Schaber second. Anthony McDaniel – absent. Motion passed 5-0. Regular Session entered at 6:40 p.m.
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to permit the Village Solicitor to intervene in a pending tax foreclosure action in order to remove a special assessment. Tom Kirkland made the motion. Dale English second. Anthony McDaniel – absent. Motion passed 5-0.
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion for a once-a-month payout for the remainder of 2025 for overage of Comp and Vacation hours. Tiffany Ramsay made a motion. Matt Schaber second. Anthony McDaniel – absent. Motion passed 5-0.
XI. Adjourn:
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Alicia Gardner made the motion. Matt Schaber second. Anthony McDaniel – absent. Motion passed 5-0. The meeting was adjourned at 6:45 p.m.
ATTEST:
___________________________ ____________________________
Carol Hehr, Mayor Lori Cunard, Fiscal Officer