The Council of the Village of Woodsfield
August 17, 2026
The Council of the Village of Woodsfield met in Regular Session on August 17, 2026.
I. Roll Call:
Present: Council Members; Tom Kirkland, Bill Allen, Kim Schaber, Tiffany Ramsay, Rusty Atkinson, Mayor Carol Hehr, Fiscal Officer Lori Cunard, Village Administrator Kevin Brooks, and Solicitor Ryan Regel.
Absent: Council member Alicia Gardner
II. Pending Meeting Minutes Approval:
Rusty Atkinson made the motion to accept the August 3, 2026 Council meeting minutes as written. Tiffany Ramsay second the motion. Alicia Gardner – absent. Motion passed 5-0.
III. Registered Visitors:
None
IV. Old Business:
Kim Schaber asked Kevin Brooks if John Williams got out to 315 Eastern Ave. to look at the ditch for Liz Coffey. Kevin Brooks said he thinks Brian Harrigan and John Williams both went and checked on it and it is not our responsibility. They were supposed to touch base with the property owner, but he didn’t know if they did or not. Mr. Brooks said he would follow up tomorrow. Kim Schaber just wanted to make sure someone came out and looked at it.
Mayor Carol Hehr read a formal resignation letter from Alicia Gardner. Alicia Gardner stated in the letter that at this time she doesn’t have the time necessary to give the Council position the attention and commitment it deserves. She said after careful consideration she feels resigning is the best thing she can do. She appreciates everyone she has had the pleasure of working with during her time here. Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to accept the resignation of Alicia Gardner from Council. Tom Kirkland made the motion. Bill Allen second the motion. Motion passed 5-0.
Mayor Hehr stated that the position will be advertised. Kevin Brooks said it has already been taken care of, applications will be accepted through the Mayor’s office through September 1st.
V. Administrator Report:
Village Administrator Kevin Brooks reported the next Council meeting will be on Tuesday, September 8th due to the Labor Day Holiday.
Kevin Brooks said the paving bid was opened on Friday. He said the lowest most responsible bid is Shelley and Sands in the amount of $348,787.00. He asked for a motion to enter into a contract for paving. Mr. Brooks said that is our portion, Lewisville is acting on their portion tonight as well. Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to accept Shelley and Sands‘ bid for the paving project and enter into a contract. Bill Allen asked if this puts us over our cap and Kevin Brooks said we are considerably under. Mr. Brooks said just because the bids are lower, that does not mean we can spend the money however we want. Kevin Brooks said we are trying to make a scope change and add Andover, Sycamore and Creamery to the list to utilize all the grant money awarded us as well as using funds we have allocated to the project. Mr. Brooks said we cannot do that without the District Committee approval and then it would also go to OPWC for approval. Kevin Brooks said each entity (Woodsfield and Lewisville) received $200,000.00 in grant funds and we have allocated $250,000.00 as a match for Woodsfield. Motion passed 5-0.
Kevin Brooks said he forwarded an email from McCaulley and Company to everyone earlier today. Based on projects we want to do in the future, they are not easily grant attainable projects. Mr. Brooks said McCaulley and Company is a grant writing service. He said McCaulley and Company is extremely costly, but he has worked with them before and they will give us access to some grant programs that we are not readily familiar with and are not readily accessible to us, in particular, federal earmark programs. He asked Council to look over the email and if they would like to schedule a meeting with them, he is
1
The Council of the Village of Woodsfield
August 17, 2026
sure we can facilitate that. Mr. Brooks said the email he sent this morning is basically a 1-year contract. Mayor Hehr said she did not have time to read it over yet but asked if it was for as many grants as we want them to write and Mr. Brooks said it is. Kevin Brooks said we would still use E. L. Robinson and Verdantas. Bill Allen asked if the two of them got along and Kevin Brooks said they did.
Kim Schaber said the cost is $132,000.00 plus expenses and no guarantees. Kevin Brooks said when he worked with them in the past, we made money back by about 188%. He said we have so many projects that have so few resources. Kim Schaber said she would like to talk with them. Bill Allen asked if the money was in the budget to pay for this and Kevin Brooks replied that the funds would be taken from the Capital Projects Fund. Council agreed they would like to meet with McCaulley and Company. Kevin Brooks said he would try and set it up for the Council meeting of September 21st.
Kim Schaber asked Mr. Brooks if any of the projects were funded when he worked with McCaulley and Company. He said the biggest project that was funded was for a substantial walking and hiking trail and they procured more than $850,000.00 for the project.
Kevin Brooks reported the backwash at the Water Treatment Plant is completed. We received a Certificate of Completion last week and final payment has been made through the Fiscal Office. The other project will continue for quite some time.
Mr. Brooks reported the pool is closing this week, so we are making arrangements with the Sideliners/Football moms to turn over the concession stand for the football games.
VI. Fiscal Officer Report:
Nothing to report.
VII. Committee Chair/Council Reports:
Rusty Atkinson–Rusty Atkinson reported that the Street Committee met Monday and everything is under control. John Williams, Street Superintendent, submitted streets to be looked at for paving in 2027. They went over the list and decided on the streets to be submitted for OPWC application. We will be partnering with Lewisville moving forward.
The crosswalk signs were also discussed but they are basically put on hold for now. The signs are costly, so we are going to wait and get patching and the paving project done to see where we are at budget wise and then decide. Mr. Brooks also said ODOT doesn’t want the signs up in winter when they are snowplowing.
Tiffany Ramsay – Tiffany Ramsay said on behalf of the Property Maintenance Committee she would like to thank Village employees and the Police Department for their assistance in getting a property cleaned up last week. They had been trying to get it cleaned up for several years. Taking action against properties that refuse to come into compliance is not something they jump into right away. They try to give every property owner reasonable opportunity to address the issue and bring their property into compliance on their own. Tiffany Ramsay said they are tired of wasting their time and resources on the same properties. She said they want to make it clear that they are serious about addressing ongoing issues. Tiffany Ramsay said they have the authority according to our Ordinances to take necessary action when the property owner refuses to bring their property into compliance.
Kevin Brooks said the guys did a great job cleaning up the property. Due to the weather, there was some damage in the alley, but we went back in and graveled and dressed it up to make sure we left it better than we found it. Mayor Hehr wanted to add that the Property Maintenance Committee is here to help the public. If someone has a lot of trash or a dilapidated house, we would like them to come to us to see if we can help in some way.
Tiffany Ramsay also reported that the Community Strong Committee had the final concert for the summer and it was a success. Their next event will be the Halloween Parade.
Kim Schaber – Nothing to report.
Bill Allen – Nothing to report.
2
The Council of the Village of Woodsfield
August 17, 2026
Tom Kirkland – Tom Kirkland reported that the Finance Committee met last week. Mr. Kirkland is asking for Executive Session at the end of the meeting regarding compensation and to consult with legal counsel and there may be action taken.
VIII: Solicitor’s Report:
Solicitor Ryan Regel requested Executive Session at the end of the meeting regarding the sale or purchase of real property.
IX: Mayor’s Report:
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to approve the payment of bills. Tiffany Ramsay made the motion. Rusty Atkinson second the motion. Motion approved 5-0.
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to approve the Mayor’s Court Report, mid-August 2026. Bill Allen made the motion. Tom Kirkland second the motion. Motion approved 5-0.
Mayor Hehr then asked for a motion to approve Resolution #2026-08. Mayor Hehr had talked with Council at the last meeting about the Mayor’s Partnership awarding us a grant of $5,000.00 to contract with Verdantas to write two grants. Resolution 2026-08 is Authorizing Carol Hehr, Mayor, to Prepare and Submit an Application to Participate in the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District’s Connecting Communities and Small Opportunities Grant Programs and to Execute Contracts as Required. Rusty Atkinson made the motion. Bill Allen second the motion. Motion passed 5-0.
Mayor Hehr completed Mayor’s Court training last week. She also attended the Small Communities Big Impact Summit. She said Buckeye Hills asked if anyone wanted to present a community center for them to have a workshop or a summit. Mayor Hehr presented the Brown Center.
Mayor Hehr met with Senator Husted’s representative and discussed some of the things we lack in the County. She said she showed him the Police Department in the City Building and the issues we have with it.
Mayor Hehr had a conference call with Mike Miller and Alyssa Manning from Verdantas. She is helping gather information for the Muskingum Watershed and Appalachian Foundation grants they will be writing for the Village.
Mayor Hehr attended the Land Bank meeting and hopefully the old Woodsfield High School building will be torn down by the end of the year.
Mayor Hehr said she did talk with the Mayor’s Partnership about sidewalk grants and because we only asked for $5,000.00 for the park grant there is a possibility we could get more money and hire Verdantas again for sidewalk grants.
Mayor Hehr asked Council if they had thought about the Sidewalk Replacement Program and whether they wanted to increase the reimbursement or not. Kevin Brooks said he has had some Inquiries, and he has told them to hold off until Council decides what they are going to do. Tiffany Ramsay said she would like to increase it to $1,500.00.
Kevin Brooks said the Sidewalk Replacement Program is supposed to be a partnership, and the property owner has to invest in the repair as well. Tiffany Ramsay said more people might take advantage of the program if we increase the reimbursement. Kevin Brooks said it has been a while since anyone has even taken advantage of the program and we continue to add to the Sidewalk Fund each month with the utility service fee. Mayor Hehr asked if Kevin Brooks would be agreeable to $2,000.00. Mr. Brooks said he absolutely would be agreeable to that as long as it is one-half up to $2,000.00. Kevin Brooks suggested making the cap $2,000.00 but anything above that can be presented to Council. Bill Allen asked Council not to forget that we did lower the distribution to that fund. Kevin Brooks said we continually watch funds and he thinks this will be a great incentive for more residents to start replacing sidewalks. Mayor Hehr feels if we are making the cap at $2,000.00 then that is what it should be for everyone. Council agreed, Tiffany Ramsay made the motion. Kim Schaber second the motion. Motion passed 5-0.
X. Un-registered Visitors/Guests (each allotted 2 minutes):
M
The Council of the Village of Woodsfield
August 17, 2026
Sarah Arend – Sarah Arend spoke earlier in the evening as un-registered guest because she had other commitments and couldn’t stay to the end of the meeting.
Sarah Arend is running for County Commissioner and wanted to introduce herself to Council. She said she has been in the County for about 10 years. She said the vision she has for the County involves responsible spending of our tax dollars, she takes budgeting and spending very seriously and we need to be frugal and wise on how we spend our tax dollars. She said good stewardship is a huge priority.
Sarah Arend put out a survey about 3 months ago and has gotten 155 respondents as of today. She said the surveys all say jobs are the number one priority and second to that is infrastructure. People want more jobs here because they want to stay here if they can. Sarah Arend says she wants to protect the culture of our area, so she wants to have jobs that suit the people in our area.
Sarah Arend said transparent leadership is important, she said she will always be about transparency. She said anyone who deals with tax dollars needs to let the public know what is being done with them. She said she would encourage meetings to be posted online possibly once a month. She said if there are people in the County who want to be leaders it is important they know what they are leading and how to do it. Sarah Arend said her mission is to restore the County. She has been talking with Trustees and now with Council and they all have the same mission and that is to restore and protect the County.
Liz Coffey – Liz Coffey had some stumps removed from her yard and was advised that she could ask to have them removed from her yard. Kevin Brooks apologized but advised her that we no longer do that service.
Liz Coffey said at the last meeting she talked about coming up with ways to get people to stay in the Village and spend money at our restaurants and stores rather than it be a drive-thru town. She suggested artwork around town or the history of the town in a passbook so that when you go into a store or restaurant, they can put a stamp in the passbook stating something about the history of the town. She also said they could do hidden artwork around town that would be similar to “Where’s Waldo”.
Matt Payne – Matt Payne asked how many have asked the residents what they want and what the response was. Kim Schaber said people want more jobs and Bill Allen said he asks more about what we can do to help the businesses we already have. Mr. Payne agrees we need more jobs, but we also need to upgrade infrastructure. He doesn’t think we need beautification right now. He thinks if we can get businesses in the Village, beautification will follow. Mr. Payne said he would like to see restoration of some of the old buildings in town also.
Faith Scheiderer – Faith Scheiderer agrees with Bill Allen and the need to get the businesses going in town. She said a good portion of the residents in town work outside the County and when they get into town after work businesses are already closed. Faith Scheiderer is in the process of buying property in town but there is an issue that only a portion of the front porch and a portion of the Bedroom actually sit on the lot. It is a triangle within a triangle. The balance of the lot is on Village right of way. She made an offer on the property with good faith that the Village would look into this and have it corrected. She has spoken with Mayor Hehr and Kim Schaber, and she said Solicitor Regel is also working on it. She attended this evening to introduce herself and meet Council members. Mayor Hehr said Council will be discussing the issue with the lot later.
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to go into Executive Session regarding Personnel, consult with Legal Counsel, and purchase/sale of real property. Rusty Atkinson made the motion. Tom Kirkland second the motion. Motion passed 5-0. Executive Session entered at 6:25 p.m.
Mayor Hehr called the meeting back into Regular Session. Regular Session entered at 7:03 p.m.
XI. Adjourn:
Mayor Hehr asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Rusty Atkinson made the motion. Tom Kirkland second the motion. Motion passed 5-0. The meeting was adjourned at 7:10 p.m.
蠢
Capel Mat
Carol Hehr, Mayor
Lori Cunard, Fiscal Officer