BARNESVILLE — Officials recently announced that the village will offer a special deal on pool passes to celebrate the reopening of newly refurbished pool at Memorial Park.

Council President Brad Hudson said family season passes, which usually sell for $125, would be offered for $100; individual passes that previously sold for $75 will be reduced to $50.

Those passes will be good for this year as well as next year.

Hudson said the deal is being offered to celebrate the new pool and as an apology to the community for the late completion of the renovation project.

“If you want a pool pass, you need to buy one this year ’cause it’s a bargain,” Hudson concluded.

While no firm date is set or confirmed for the pool opening, Village Administrator Roger Deal hinted at one point that he hoped it could be open in time to hold a “free swim” to coincide with the village’s Independence Day celebration scheduled for Saturday.

Deal said that besides the fireworks display planned for that evening, the Barnesville Chamber of Commerce will hold its annual barbecue that day. First Christian Church will have a group singing at the park from 6-7 p.m. Saturday, followed by a disc jockey playing music. The Beast of the East baseball tournament also will be taking place at the park that day.

During a council meeting held June 25, Mayor Dale Bunting spoke of the community support that has brought about the flurry of improvements at the park saying, “That’s what the park’s all about. It’s a showcase in memory of a lot of folks that have done a lot of things for our community. I’m very proud of that.”

Hudson announced that the village had been looking into getting a public speaker system installed downtown for a few years and that the chamber of commerce and the Pumpkin Festival Committee are interested in that project as well. Together, the organizations found a man in Zanesville who would install a system for around $30,000.

Hudson said he had discussed the matter with other council members and it had been decided that the village would like to pay $15,000 toward the public address system and that the chamber of commerce and Pumpkin Festival Committee could split the remainder. Hudson then made a motion to make the expenditure, which council approved unanimously.

Deal announced that he had received an email from the Ohio Department of Transportation informing him that it is planning a project that will include some patch work through Barnesville. Deal said that while ODOT had not yet laid out specific plans for the work, he felt most if not all of the concerns about state routes that run through the village would be addressed.

At the council meeting held May 14, Deal had sought approval from council to spend $42,000 for patch work on Main and Chestnut streets in the village where they occupy Ohio 147 and Ohio 800. The matter was tabled after Hudson expressed his opinion that, due to the large amount of gas and oil well traffic traveling those roads, the state should be willing to assist the village with those repairs.

Deal also informed council that he would like to apply for an Ohio Public Works Commission grant for next year so the village could perform another large street paving project in 2019.

Deal reminded council that by taking a loan as part of the grant process the village greatly increased its chances of being awarded a grant and said he believed that the village being awarded the grant in both 2017 and 2018 had been because it had taken the loans for 26 percent of the project price tag. He then asked council members if they wanted to take a loan for next year’s project. Councilman Scott Gallagher expressed his trust in Deal and his knowledge of the process, and his sentiment was echoed by other council members before they granted Deal permission to proceed with the loan.

Also at Deal’s request, council approved an ordinance authorizing him to spend $90,000 on emergency repairs to the storm drain pipe that runs under the Riesbeck’s parking lot.

Village Fiscal Officer Vicki Magers informed council that she had to have the budget for 2019 submitted to the Belmont County auditor by July 20 and that a public hearing had to be scheduled so that anyone who wished to review the budget could do so before that. She asked that a public meeting be scheduled at 6 p.m. July 9 in council chambers before the next council meeting that will take place at 7 p.m. on that date.

In other business, council approved paying bills in the amount of $119,383.51 and approved building permits for Corner Pharmacy to construct a handicap ramp at 102 W. Main St., Mark & Roberta Lucas to change from a concrete to a wood porch at 508 N. Lincoln Ave., Richard Wells to install a new roof and siding at 427 W. Main St., Carolyn Barr to install a new roof at 419 W. Main St., and Shawn Hayes to construct new decks at 434 E. Main St.