The Council of the Village of Woodsfield
March 16, 2026
The Council of the Village of Woodsfield met in Regular Session on March 16, 2026.
I. Roll Call:
Present: Council Members; Tom Kirkland, Bill Allen, Kim Schaber, Tiffany Ramsay, Matt Schaber, Mayor Carol Hehr, Fiscal Officer Lori Cunard, and Village Administrator Kevin Brooks.
Absent: Council person Alicia Gardner and Solicitor Ryan Regel.
II. Pending Meeting Minutes Approval:
Mayor Hehr said the Village of Woodsfield cannot call the EMA to be added to the all-call, they must call the Utility Office to be added, and she would like this added to the minutes from last meeting. Tiffany Ramsay made the motion to accept the March 2, 2026 meeting minutes with corrections. Matt Schaber second. Alicia Gardner – absent. Motion passed 5-0.
III. Registered Visitors:
Chief Corey Jones – Chief Jones attended to give a brief summary for the Police Department for 2025. He said the Police Department had 70 criminal investigations throughout 2025 that encompassed various incidents. They issued 68 citations through Mayor’s Court, completed 42 crash investigations, and in addition they issued several parking tickets for various issues. There are a lot of hours they put towards Property Maintenance issues such as mailing letters to residents in violation, going to the residence and issuing citations. Chief Jones said there are numerous other things they do throughout the year such as funeral procession escorts and traffic stops that do not result in citations or criminal investigations. The Police Department escorts Riesbeck’s store manager to the bank for their daily deposits, provides ATM security at the banks in town, assist people who lock their keys in their vehicle, assist EMS, and general community service and public assistance. Chief Jones said throughout 2025 they were down one officer and continue to be, but they do their best to stay visible in the community. He thanked Council for their continued support and said the Police Department is eager to help and do their best in 2026. Kim Schaber asked about the progress of hiring another officer. Chief Jones said there are very few applicants and there also is the issue of competition with larger Police Departments that have more to offer. He also said they do not want just an applicant they want the right applicant. Kim Schaber asked if there is anything Council can do to enhance the acceptance rate. Chief Jones said he feels the Village is competitive with what is offered and there are some great perks, but you can only do so much within reason for the size Police Department the Village has. Kim Schaber thanked Chief Jones and the department. She said even though they have worked one less employee the past year they are visible and they are appreciated. Chief Jones said he commends his guys and the work they do for the Village.
Steve Eikleberry, Cemetery/Park Superintendent – Steve Eikleberry gave a hand-out to Council showing what was brought in with the Pool and Concessions and the Cemetery during 2025.
Steve Eikleberry said they mow and weed eat Pioneer and Oaklawn Cemetery’s and clean the stones as much as they can. They also mow Memorial Park, The Walking Trail, Brown Center, non-compliant yards and they water the flower baskets downtown every year. Steve Eikleberry also runs the pool with six lifeguards.
During 2025 they had a total of 33 burials, 25 of them were casket burials and 8 of them cremations. There were six lot sales during 2025. They answer questions regarding where burial lots are located within the cemetery.
Steve Eikleberry said during 2026 there is a new sliding board going in at the pool and they just purchased a new dolphin for cleaning the pool. They have also purchased a new 3-bay sink at the concession stand which will put them in compliance with the Health Department, it will be installed soon. They will be putting in a new pump at the baby pool when the State approves the application. Steve Eikleberry said one thing he would like to see is to have the road chipped and sealed going back around behind the pool. He also said he would like to see some of the roads at the cemetery chipped and sealed or paved. The road going into the new section of the cemetery is gravel so he would like to see it paved this year if that is possible.
Tyler Spence – During 2025 there were new filter media purchased for one of the GAC filters. This keeps the disinfection by-products out of the water. They also had to put together a general plan in which they had an engineer involved. They have the wash water project that they received bidding on around June of last year. They need the backwash system because it affects the filter media and it currently is not letting them get good backwashes on the filters and it’s causing the media to deteriorate quickly. Moving this project as quickly as possible is very important to the Water Plant. They have an ongoing project with the high service pump and high service motor that is still being worked on. They are hoping to get it back to the plant soon to get everything put back together and it will give them two high service pumps and motors so one can be used as back-up in case there is trouble with the other. Tyler Spence said one concern at the plant is the SCADA which continues to go on the downward trend. He and Kevin Brooks have talked with Bob Allen, E. L. Robinson, who is trying to find funding for a new SCADA.
Tyler Spence said the metrics for 2025, and the consumer confidential report is available, it is completed but has not been posted yet. He said if anyone would like to look at it before it is posted, let him know.
Bill Allen asked which pump they are still waiting on at the Water Plant. Tyler Spence said they are waiting on a sludge pump which needs a seal that they are waiting on.
Kim Schaber asked if they got complete feedback on the surveys that were sent out in regard to the service lines. Tyler Spence said this is an on-going project that we will not see go away anytime soon. This is something they will have to send out every year but with the help of Daniel Denbow we can post these things online. However, Kim Schaber said the link for one of the notices did not go anywhere when you clicked on it. Tyler Spence said he would talk to Dan Denbow about it.
Walter Russell – Mr. Russell attended to ask Council for re-zoning of 211 High Street from residential to commercial. He said the lot is directly across the street from two lots that he purchased last year. He said there is the potential for more storage in that area. He has one unit full and is working on another building to put in 3 more bays. Mr. Russell said he may put storage buildings in or just a building for someone to use for a business. He also said he is going to move his own storage shed onto the lot with a mail slot in the door for people to drop payments. Mayor Hehr said she will have to check and see if he can put in a building there for people to drop payments or if that is considered a business which he would not be able to do until he gets a variance. She also verified with Mr. Russell that the lot would be used for storage units, potential building for a business, and storage buildings for trailers. Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to advertise 3 times for a Public Meeting for a re-zoning. She said the Public Meeting is for the public to voice their opinions/concerns and then Council would vote on the zoning variance. Bill Allen made the motion. Matt Schaber second the motion. Alicia Gardner – absent. Kevin Brooks said he does not have a problem with doing a re-zoning for commercial however, he said maybe take a hard look at the zoning code and instead of zoning for commercial maybe it should be zoned for special use. If it is zoned for commercial it opens up a broad list of things that can be put in, whereas special use designation is directing it to one specific use. Mayor Hehr said she would rather see Mr. Russell ask for a variance because with a variance Council has the control of what goes on the lot but if it is re-zoned and he sells the property then someone can put in anything they want as long as it is within the parameters of the zoning code. Kevin Brooks agreed and said we may want to use more discretion to protect the area because it is a residential area. Motion passed 5-0.
IV. Old Business:
Livestreaming of the Council Meetings – Mayor Hehr said since we did not have all of Council in attendance, she would not be taking a vote tonight but if Kim Schaber has something to say she is welcome to. Kim Schaber had emailed Council recommendations for videoing of Council meetings that she received from a presenter at the New Council Member Conference she attended previously. She said the presenter said this is the best list of recommendations that takes into consideration all sorts of things including the fact that anyone in the audience can be recording or videoing and we cannot keep them from doing so. She also wanted to clarify that she is not asking for livestreaming of the meetings. She is asking for a recorded video with audio that we alone can post on our website. She said that at the same time Dan Denbow is posting the approved meetings he could then post the video of the meeting.
She said it would only be up for a finite period of time, and we could watch the count to see how many people are viewing it and decide if we want to continue or not. Kim Schaber said it would be turned off for Executive Sessions, and it would only be videoing Council, not the audience. She said each time Dan Denbow posts approved minutes he would remove the old video and post the new video. Kim Schaber said that the approved minutes posted on the website that the public can read are 2 weeks behind. She said if they can see the Council meeting online it catches them up because Dan Denbow would be posting the approved meeting minutes which would be the previous meeting and at the same time post the video of the current meeting. Each time a new video is posted the old video will be deleted and they do not have to be part of the public record. Kim Schaber said we would not edit the video; it would be the complete meeting. She said if we kept the video the thing we would remove if we kept the video moving forward for Human Rights Act and Data Protection Act, for confidentiality is that some people do not want to be on video. She said we set the policy, and we would emphasize that our meeting minutes serve as the public record and the video is a temporary post for transparency and immediate resident information. She said she understands there is some concern, but she wants to emphasize that the video does not have to be public record and we do not have to retain it especially if we state that it is only posted for a finite period of time. She wanted to emphasize again that she is not talking livestream, zoom, or for external viewers to ask questions. She would also ask that Dan Denbow post it to our website, but we have full control and no one can take it and post it to their website or Facebook. Mayor Hehr asked how we can get all of Council in the video and Kim Schaber said it would need to be a panoramic view lens. Kim Schaber said if we would invest in some equipment, we would get a panoramic lens to show all of Council interacting in the meeting. She said she knows not everyone is on board with the videoing of the meeting, but she had also proposed doing a trial run for a few months to see how it goes.
VI. Administrator Report:
Kevin Brooks asked for a motion to hire Zachary Congrove, Park/Cemetery, Part-Time/Seasonal at $14.00/hr. He said it is important to hire someone now because we will have a staff member going on medical leave and he could possibly be out for 12 weeks. Tom Kirkland made the motion. Matt Schaber second the motion. Alicia Gardner – absent. Motion passed 5-0.
The next project meeting for the water/wastewater project is Monday, April 6th @ 10:00 a.m. here at the city building. Mr. Brooks said we should have a much better idea of where we are at schedule wise after the meeting. As of now they are approximately 7 weeks behind due to rain and inclement weather but hopefully they will be able to make up some time in the next couple of weeks.
A generator has been purchased for the Brown Center; it has not been delivered but we want to get it installed as soon as possible. We want to have the generator up and operational by May 5th for the primary election because the Brown Center is the polling center. There is a list of things from the Board of Elections to be done at the Brown Center before the election so Steve Eikleberry and his crew will make sure everything is completed.
Matt Schaber asked when we are making a conference call with Verdantas. Mr. Brooks said this week will not work because of the Auditors Conference in Columbus Wednesday – Friday. There is also a list of information we need to provide for them, and he does not know how we are going to get the information because it is so specific and it is asking for voltages and connections, so we may have to get AMP involved. Mr. Brooks said we may have to get the engineers to come here and do on-site due diligence to answer some of the questions because we are not going to provide answers if we are not sure the answers are correct. Mr. Brooks said the conference call will probably take place sometime next week and we have a better handle on what is being requested.
Matt Schaber asked if we have checked the price of the new generators at the Light Plant and if they are price prohibitive or not. Kevin Brooks said that is what was decided at the last meeting; we are going to go with the Main Spring generators, which are similar to what we have now, but we have not moved any further ahead yet.
VII. Fiscal Officer Report:
Fiscal Officer Lori Cunard reported that the Village did receive grant funds from OWDA last week. Kevin Brooks said when payment applications are submitted then in turn a request is made to draw funds from OWDA to pay the payment applications. Typically, we draw down the grant money first and at the back end of the project we start using loan money that is interest free.
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to approve Ordinance #03-2026, An Ordinance Providing for Amending and Revising Specific Line-Items in the Appropriations of Expenditures for the Village of Woodsfield for the Calendar Year 2026 and to Suspend the Rules, Declaring an Emergency. Tiffany Ramsay made the motion. Tom Kirkland second the motion. Alicia Gardner – absent. Kevin Brooks let Council know that this will be an ongoing thing throughout the project. Motion passed 5-0. Ordinance #03-2026 adopted.
VIII. Committee Chair/Council Reports:
Tom Kirkland – Tom Kirkland reported that they held a Cemetery Committee meeting where they discussed the possibility of getting a snowplow for the 3/4 -ton truck and trying to pave part of the road. Tom Kirkland said the new area needs it the most so Steve Eikleberry was going to have John Williams, Street Superintendent, figure out a cost for the paving and see what we can do. Kevin Brooks said when we do our major paving project in the Village that is going to be funded through OPWC we are going to engage the contractor while they are on site to see if they want to do a separate project at the Cemetery. Mr. Brooks said we are also looking at Sycamore and exploring our options through OPWC and doing a scope change to get the section of Sycamore paved that we did not get funded through CDBG.
Bill Allen asked Tom Kirkland if Steve Eikleberry, Cemetery/Park Superintendent, asked about buying an SUV for the Park and Cemetery. Tom Kirkland said he did ask but it is not going to happen.
Bill Allen – Nothing to report.
Alicia Gardner – Absent.
Kim Schaber – Kim Schaber said she had someone report to her that they use the walking trail on a regular basis and there are several large branches and tree limbs down on the trail. Kevin Brooks said they had just talked about that at the Superintendents meeting, and the Park and Street crews went up and cleaned it up, but he would have them go up and check the trail again.
Tiffany Ramsay – Tiffany Ramsay said she is going to be contacting the Property Maintenance Committee to get the next meeting scheduled and she said they will probably start meeting on a regular basis like they did last year.
Matt Schaber – Matt Schaber said he is going to contact the Park Committee to get a meeting scheduled.
IX: Solicitor’s Report:
SolicitorRyan Regel could not attend the Council meeting, but everyone received an email from him today containing an Ordinance and Resolution that needs to be passed. They pertain to the State Route 78 shared use path project. There are two pieces of property needed to be acquired before we can proceed with the project. Mayor Hehr said for those that do not know, across from Riesbeck’s, ODOT is going to put in a walking path for people to get to Riesbeck’s, Dollar General, Tractor Supply and possibly later on it may be extended but we do not know that for sure.
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to approve Resolution #2026-03, A Resolution Declaring Intent and Necessity of State Route 78 Shared-Use Path Project and to Suspend the Rules, Declaring an Emergency. Kevin Brooks said the situation is that it is going to be a shared-use path, not a sidewalk. It is designated differently by ODOT, so we have a whole host of regulations we have to deal with as opposed to dealing with a sidewalk. It is delaying the project to spring of 2027 because of the acquisition issues and the amount of tree trimming needing to be done. Tom Kirkland made the motion
to approve Resolution #2026-03. Matt Schaber second the motion. Alicia Gardner – absent. Motion passed 5-0.
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to approve Ordinance #04-2026, An Ordinance to Appropriate to Public Use Certain Interests in Real Property Identified in Plans Prepared by the Ohio Department of Transportation Identified as the State Route 78 Shared-Use Path Project and Suspend the Rules, Declaring an Emergency. There was some discussion by Council with regard to the same property’s listed on both Resolution and Ordinance and Resolution and Ordinance being two different things. Mayor Hehr said they both need passed tonight so the Ordinance will be passed contingent on talking with Solicitor Ryan Regel to make sure the Ordinance and Resolution is correct. Matt Schaber made the motion to approve Ordinance #04-2026. Tom Kirkland second the motion. Alicia Gardner – absent. Motion passed 5-0. Ordinance #04-2026 adopted.
X: Mayor’s Report:
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to approve the payment of bills. Tiffany Ramsay made the motion. Bill Allen second the motion. Alicia Gardner – absent. Motion passed 5-0.
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to approve the Mayor’s Court Report, mid-March 2026. Matt Schaber made the motion. Tom Kirkland second the motion. Alicia Gardner – absent. Motion passed 5-0.
Mayor Hehr asked Council if they had all read the email from Solicitor Regel concerning Gulfport and if everyone agrees or has any questions. Council agreed and there were no questions.
Mayor Hehr reported that she did submit the Capital Projects Grant for the splash pad in the amount of $175,000.00.
The allocation grant was not given to the Village. She said she thinks it went to Graysville and Sardis.
Bob Allen, E. L. Robinson, was here for a meeting and he said he was going to apply for a grant for Rubel Lake. He was here on a Monday and needed support letters by Friday, so she got together enough support letters and sent them to Bob Allen.
XI. Un-Registered Visitors/Guests:
None
XII. Adjourn:
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Bill Allen made the motion. Matt Schaber second the motion. Alicia Gardner – absent. Motion passed 5-0. The meeting was adjourned at 7:05 p.m.
ATTEST:
___________________________ ____________________________
Carol Hehr, Mayor Lori Cunard, Fiscal Officer