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MINGO JUNCTION -- Mingo Junction Village Council's safety committee met before council's regular meeting Tuesday and addressed several topics, including continued requests for speed bumps and inactive streetlights.
"I want to try to avoid speed bumps unless we absolutely have to," Councilwoman Jodilynn Fitzgerald said regarding a request for speed bumps on West Boulevard to combat at least one alleged "habitual speeder."
Fitzgerald said she is familiar with one of the alleged speeders and had considered contacting them directly. She also encouraged Police Chief Willie McKenzie III to have more presence in the area to dissuade speeders or look out for violations.
Council's safety committee agreed to contact the Indian Creek Local School District Board of Education about possible modifications to a curb near Montgomery Lane where wide-turning buses could cause an accident.
The committee also asked McKenzie to contact Chris and Dave's Townhouse Bar and Grill to inform them that customers cannot drive over sidewalk curbs to park on a gravel-paved lot, regardless if the business has given permission because driving over curbs violates a village ordinance.
Additionally, the committee discussed the need for a tree on village property posing a scraping threat to vehicles to be trimmed, and it discussed rumors that American Electric Power had temporarily closed Logan Avenue.
Kyle Moffat, Mingo Junction Wastewater Department chief operator, expressed to the safety committee the need for specific training for village employees, specifically regarding training that helps employees to recognize dangerous situations and reminds them they have a right to not go into them.
Fire Chief Brandon Montgomery said every municipal building is equipped with an AED, but they have aged to the point that their batteries are likely depleted, and their pads are expired. The replacements are expensive, Montgomery said, but they are needed to save lives.
Village resident Harry Constantini expressed dissatisfaction to the committee because five street lights on McLister Avenue, which he personally marked with red flags, remain non-operational. Committee members agreed to try to locate a master list of street lights that indicates which ones were purposefully deactivated or need replacement.
Separately, Montgomery requested council's long-standing EMS board be renamed or dissolved, being replaced by a fire board that handles intricate details of the department's operations not adequately addressed during a typical council meeting.
"My five-to-10 minutes here doesn't really cut into the nooks and crannies of what we do," Montgomery said, adding that a board's additional meetings would keep people informed about critical decision-making going on.
The board would meet once a month in a public meeting to discuss topics like training and strategic planning, and its members would be composed of the entire council or part of council, Montgomery said.
Montgomery also said in his report that one of the village fire and EMS department's ambulances suffered a blown turbo. The 4- or 5-year-old ambulance was on the way to the hospital when the blow occurred, but the Steubenville Fire Department was able to have the patient transported. Everything was covered in the ambulance's warranty.
Also, the department received two donations, one for $500 from the family of the late James "Jags" Huggins, village auditor, who Montgomery said was "passionate" about EMS. The second donation, from RSV Trucking Inc., was for $250, and both donations will be used for fire and EMS education purposes. Montgomery said department employees attending an upcoming Ohio Fire Chiefs Association conference will take a photo together, and the photo will be placed on a plaque with Huggins' name and then be hung in the municipal building.