BELMONT — Belmont County Commissioner J.P. Dutton recently paid a visit to update village officials on a planned road widening project.

Dutton attended Belmont Council’s meeting earlier this month and introduced A.J. Smith from Verdantas Consulting, saying that he and Smith were two of five members of the Transportation Improvement District of Belmont County, a board formed under Ohio Revised Code that is working to get funding for certain projects in the county.

Dutton listed some projects that they had been involved with including the recent intersection improvement in Bethesda and the Mall Commons Crossing.

He went on to say that they were currently working on a project to widen the turn where State Routes 147 and 149 enter the village from the west, saying that they had secured $400,000 in grant funding through the Ohio Department of Transportation. He added that some design work had been completed and that he did not foresee any reason the project would not be completed during the 2026 construction season.

Dutton said that the village-owned property that lies along the roadway in that area “could be useful” to accommodate the widening and that they would likely need to take some core samples from that property as they continued to plan for the project.

Fiscal Officer Ricky Burkhead asked about letting village officials or residents see the plans before construction begins, noting that many thought there were flaws in the Bethesda intersection project that could have been avoided had locals been able to give input on the matter.

Smith defended the scope of the Bethesda project, saying that doing any more there would have involved multiple private properties and that the aim of that project was to straighten the intersection and that allowing for “every truck turning movement” was not feasible.

Councilwoman Sara Scott noted that the village Christmas tree was on the property being used to widen the road, but Smith said he felt that it was far enough away from the road that it would not be affected.

Council passed a motion to allow the core sampling and survey work on the village owned property and thanked Smith and Dutton.

Mayor Ron Woods asked Dutton about the decision to move Belmont’s election polling location and Dutton replied that the Belmont County Board of Elections operates independently of the county commission, noting he had similar concerns as he was from Flushing which also lost its polling location.

Board of Public Affairs President Ken Davis asked about property tax rates in the county and Dutton said he anticipated there would be a ballot measure to abolish property taxes in the state during next year’s election and that he believed the Ohio Legislature would attempt to make “some fix or correction” before that vote happens.

“I think everyone understands that an adjustment probably needs to be made, but I think all people understand the importance of property taxes too in terms of just operating basic government. The idea that these property values increase 30% to 40% in two to three years doesn’t seem like it makes a ton of sense,” said Dutton.

Dutton added that increasing sales taxes to compensate for lost property tax income would be particularly challenging in Belmont County due to its location “at the edge of the state.”

Davis also brought up the loss of local government money from the state affecting small village’s ability to survive, and Dutton replied that there had been slight increases in recent years, but that there would be a new administration in the state soon that could change those policies.

Meanwhile, Woods reminded those present that residents would be voting on a 3-mil police levy on Tuesday, Nov. 4 and encouraged everyone to go out and vote for it.

Council voted in May to idle its police department due to lack of funding as their current police levy brings in just over $8,000 annually.

Concerning the old levy, Burkhead informed council that the old levy would only be lost if the new levy passes, whereas he had previously stated that they would lose the old levy if the new one failed to pass.

Council passed a motion to proceed with plans to use Bridge Payment to facilitate online credit and debit card payments for water and sewer customers as well as for gym rentals and fees due to the Belmont Fire and EMS departments, with a single hand held device to be kept at the village offices so walk-in customers can use their cards in person.

It was noted that customers using the service would be charged a 3.5% fee on each transaction, that all of that fee would go to pay for the service, and that a web address to use the service would be provided to water customers once it was in place.

Village Service Director Kerry Kemp informed council that the village had purchased 65% of its water from the county in September and that they had performed significant maintenance on the equipment at well house 4.

Ken Davis informed council that five more residential meters had been replaced last month and that as they were nearing the end of their 20 year life expectancy he expected more would be failing going forward.

Fire Lieutenant Kaye Hall informed council on the construction of their new firehouse, saying that all of the footers had been poured and that construction crews were starting to lay down the block and that the next step would be to pour the concrete floor.

Scott announced that she would soon be moving out of Belmont and would be resigning her council seat at the end of October.

Scott read from her resignation letter in part, saying, “Serving alongside each of you has been an honor. I’m continually impressed by the integrity and dedication and the genuine care you bring to our community. These moments have reminded me that service is not just about the tasks at hand, but about the people who make the work meaningful.”

Village Solicitor T.J. Schultz said that the term on the seat from which Scott was resigning expired at the end of this year they had discussed waiting until January to fill the open seat, meaning it would be past the 30-day deadline which would allow Woods to appoint the new council member.

Woods said he would consult the Personnel Committee on the matter regardless to help select the new council member, noting that they would post the opening so that residents could submit letters of interest.

Belmont Village Council meets at 6 p.m. on the first Wednesday of each month in the Stanley Sobel Village Offices on Brown Street.