The Council of the Village of Woodsfield
September 15, 2025
The Council of the Village of Woodsfield met in Regular Session on September 15, 2025.
I. Roll Call:
Present: Council Members; Dale English, Tom Kirkland, Alicia Gardner, Tiffany Ramsay, Matt Schaber, Mayor Carol Hehr, Fiscal Officer Lori Cunard, Solicitor Ryan Regel, and Village Administrator Kevin Brooks.
Absent: Council member Anthony McDaniel.
II. Pending Meeting Minutes Approval:
Dale English made the motion to accept the September 2, 2025 meeting minutes as written. Tom Kirkland second. Matt Schaber – abstain, Anthony McDaniel – absent. Motion passed 4-0.
III. Registered Visitors:
None
IV. Old Business:
Dan Weber came forward and read the letter he had received from the inspector regarding his property. Mayor Hehr said the issue is whether the structure is sound and the inspector only inspected the outside. She said in order for the inspector to decide whether it is a sound property he needs to go inside. Mr. Weber said the inspector inspected what he was supposed to and Mr. Weber said he had worked on the property and now the inspector said it looks good. Mayor Hehr asked if the inspector had been back to the houses and Mr. Weber said he was busy, so he just asked for pictures. Mayor Hehr said she had spoken with Chief Jones who said that he was to meet with the inspector on September 25th and not to do a hearing until after that. Solicitor Regel suggested we table this, we will make the letter part of Mr. Weber’s record because it sounds like there has been some miscommunication.
V. Administrator Report:
Village Administrator Kevin Brooks reminded Council that we have been talking about the electric distribution conversion. He has a quote from Verdantas which takes us through design, contract and bidding, and inspection during the project. The quote is for $385,000.00 which takes us from the initial design through completion of the conversion. The conversion plan will be done in January 2026, preliminary design will be done in June 2026, and construction is to start in September 2026 with the completion of May 2027.
We have been in contact with AMP and their grant consultants. Last week we entered a Letter of Intent with Appalachian Resource Commission (ARC) for a $2,000,000.00 grant to fund the engineering and design for the project. Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to approve the contract, pending legal review, for $385,000.00 to start the design for the electric distribution conversion. Matt Schaber made the motion. Tiffany Ramsay second. Anthony McDaniel – absent. Motion passed 5-0. Kevin Brooks said we have set aside budgetary money to pay for the design a little at a time. The break-down is $97,000.00 for system mapping and conversion plan, $130,000.00 for construction drawing and contract preparation, and construction observation and outage support is $158,000.00 and those are not to exceed figures.
VI. Fiscal Officer Report:
Lori Cunard, Fiscal Officer, reported that last week we received $7,000.00 from the Carrie Dearth Estate funds for Cemetery.
Lori Cunard will be attending Mayor Court Conference Wednesday – Friday of this week so the Fiscal Office will be closed because Brenda Mauck is on vacation.
Lor Cunard reminded everyone that the OML Fall Conference is October 8-10 in Columbus.
VII. Committee Chair/Council Reports:
Matt Schaber – Matt Schaber asked if anything has been done about the website. He said Kim Schaber had dropped off some papers for Dan Denbow and Mayor Hehr said they are being looked at.
Matt Schaber said he has tried to clean the control boxes, but the stains are still on them. He asked if we could contact ODOT to see what they clean the boxes with. He said he has tried 3 or 4 different products, but the stains are still on them. Kevin Brooks said he does not think ODOT cleans them, once installed they are up to us, but he would talk to John Williams, Street Superintendent, to see if they can figure something out.
Matt Schaber asked if the changes has been made on the cost sheet for the Brown Community Center. Mayor Hehr said it was discussed, and we should vote on it at the next meeting. Kevin Brooks said the fees were discussed at a Special Committee meeting and they were presented to Council during Executive Session at the last meeting for everyone to think about.
Matt Schaber asked who Zack Bolin is that was hired as a contract employee for the Brown Center. Mr. Brooks said he is very well qualified, and he will open, close and do a setup prior to an event. Zack Bolin will receive $100.00 for opening the Brown Center before an event and $100.00 for closing the Brown Center after an event. He will also be on-call during the event in case there are any issues. After an event he will clean up and he will also do any maintenance needed done at the Brown Center.
Matt Schaber asked if all the easements have now been taken care of. Solicitor Regel said there are still some that are outstanding, one in particular, and if he would like to make a motion to go into Executive Session to talk about it he can. Matt Schaber made a motion to go into Executive Session regarding acquisition of property at the end of the meeting. Tiffany Ramsay second. Anthony McDaniel – absent. Motion passed 5-0. Kevin Brooks said our intent is to come to an agreement with each one of the property owners with an easement. We have a $4,000,000.00 grant tied up in this project and it is going forward. We do not under any circumstances want to proceed with imminent domain to acquire property but that is an option, it is not what we want to do but we may not have any other choice. There is a pre-construction meeting for this project that will be held on September 24th here at the building.
Tiffany Ramsay – Tiffany Ramsay reported that the Community Strong Committee will be holding Music on Main this Saturday, September 20th on the lot next door. The rain location will be the Rabbit and Poultry Barn at the Fairgrounds.
Alicia Gardner – Nothing to report.
Anthony McDaniel – absent
Tom Kirkland – Nothing to report.
Dale English – Nothing to report.
VIII: Solicitor’s Report:
Solicitor Regel said he would need a motion to go into Executive Session based upon pending court action. Tiffany Ramsay made the motion. Matt Schaber second. Anthony McDaniel – absent. Motion passed 5-0.
IX: Mayor’s Report:
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to approve the payment of bills. Dale English made the motion. Tom Kirkland second. Anthony McDaniel – absent. Motion passed 5-0.
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to approve the Mayor’s Court Report, mid-September 2025. Dale English made the motion. Tiffany Ramsay second. Anthony McDaniel – absent. Motion passed 5-0.
Mayor Hehr asked if everyone received the copy of the letter from the Chamber of Commerce regarding the Christmas Parade to be held Sunday, November 30th @ 5:00 p.m.
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to approve Ordinance #11-2025, An Ordinance Providing for Amending and Revising Specific Line-Items in the Appropriations of Expenditures for the Village of Woodsfield for the Calendar Year 2025 and Declaring an Emergency. A motion to suspend the three-reading rule and pass this Ordinance as an emergency measure was made byTiffany Ramsay, second by Tom Kirkland. Dale English – yes, Alicia Gardner – yes, Matt Schaber – yes. Anthony McDaniel – absent. Kevin Brooks said this Ordinance is Brown Center related because we are installing cameras for surveillance and replacing the stove, and we may want to replace a piece of carpet so the Fiscal Officer will have to move funds to pay for these things. Motion passed 5-0. Ordinance #11-2025 adopted.
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to approve Resolution #2025-12, A Resolution Authorizing the Fiscal Officer to Transfer the Funds Associated with the Villages Cemetery Investments, the Brague Endowment Funds being held by Commonwealth Financial Services to the State Treasury Asset Reserve of Ohio (STAR Ohio) and Declaring an Emergency. Mayor Hehr said Lori, Brenda, and herself met with Nikki Lude and the Brague money will be transferred but the Appalachian Fund will be kept there because we are limited in what we can do with it since there was a match when we invested with them. Kevin Brooks said Nikki Lude did a great job with the investments. The issue was that due to this being invested in the stock market it was a finding on every audit report because the State does not allow stock market investments. Tom Kirkland made the motion. Dale English second. Anthony McDaniel – absent. Motion passed 5-0.
X. Un-Registered Visitors/Guest:
Michelle Johnson – Ms. Johnson said she thought the vacating of alleys would be discussed tonight. Mayor Hehr explained that there was a human error, and the Public Notice did not get advertised in the paper. It will be posted, and the hearing will be held on November 3rd at 5:00 p.m.
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to go into Executive Session. Dale English made the motion. Tom Kirkland second. Anthony McDaniel – absent. Motion passed 5-0. Executive Session entered at 6:05 p.m.
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to return to Regular Session. Dale English made the motion. Matt Schaber second. Anthony McDaniel – absent. Motion passed 5-0. Regular Session entered at 6:28 p.m.
XI. Adjourn:
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Alicia Gardner made the motion. Tiffany Ramsay second. Anthony McDaniel – absent. Motion passed 5-0. The meeting was adjourned at 6:30 p.m.
ATTEST:
___________________________ ____________________________
Carol Hehr, Mayor Lori Cunard, Fiscal Officer