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BELMONT -- Village council on Thursday voted to accept the donation of a police cruiser from St. Clairsville and approved making the expenditures needed to put it into service.
Police Chief Andrew Miller, who had been working with the St. Clairsville Police Department on acquiring the 2010 Crown Victoria cruiser that was recently taken out of service there, said that he believed the only thing wrong with the vehicle was the battery, but that if council accepted the vehicle he would take it to Doan Ford and have it checked out to make sure.
Miller went on to say the only thing it would need for sure besides the battery would be new decals appropriate to its new home.
After a brief discussion, council voted in favor of accepting the cruiser and spending up to $750 to purchase a battery and have new decals put on at Logotek with Mayor Ron Woods and council members thanking St. Clairsville for the donation.
Mayor Woods noted that the village had been "holding back" on enforcement of property maintenance and vehicle license ordinances in the village during the COVID-19 outbreak, and asked Chief Miller about beginning to enforce those again.
Miller said that he believed there were still restrictions in place as far as their ability to issue citations for expired vehicle licenses due to an order from Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, with Woods saying they could go ahead and start issuing warnings to residents with "trash or junk" on their properties and citing them if the problem is not rectified.
After some discussion, council held the first reading of an ordinance that will give the village a legal course of action to order and carry out the abatement of dangerous buildings in the village should the owner of such a structure fail to make the needed repairs.
Village Solicitor T.J. Schultz said the ordinance is based on one that is in place in the Village of Barnesville that has been used successfully there to remove dangerous structures from abandoned properties while giving the municipality a way to recoup the costs associated with doing so through tax liens.
Schultz expressed trepidation about having such an ordinance on the books while the village is the owner of a dangerous building, namely the old Belmont School building, that they have been trying unsuccessfully to get torn down for a number of years.
Councilman Shaun Bruce expressed his desire to move forward with the first reading, saying he felt it was an "apples and oranges" comparison: "We're talking about people that are letting their homes dilapidate," going on to say that they had been trying to figure out how to get the school problem taken care of for most of the six years he has been on council.
Council President Mike Murphy agreed and asked if they could make the ordinance pertain to residential properties and either amend or adopt another ordinance for commercial properties later.
Mayor Woods said that they continued to work on getting grants to get the school torn down.
Schultz also said he had been working actively with Bethesda's Village Solicitor on amending the contract between the villages for the street sweeper they co-own as well as hammering out the details for a pavement roller being purchased collectively by the two neighboring villages as well as Goshen Township.
Council held a brief discussion about what could be done to reopen the Belmont Gym for rentals with Schultz recommending they contact the Belmont County Health Department for guidance.
The Belmont Gym, which for years has been a popular venue for various gatherings and activities as well as a source of income for the village has been closed for rental purposes since the beginning of the coronovirus outbreak early in 2020.
Board of Public Affairs President Ken Davis informed council that village owned wells produced nearly 80% of water for the village in January and that he expected that percentage to remain high with significant recent snowfall amounts melting off.
Davis also expressed his appreciation for village water customers who have responded well by filling out the new water service contracts that were sent with the most recent billing.
Belmont Fire Lieutenant Kaye Hall informed council that in 2020 the Belmont Volunteer Fire and EMS Department had answered 45 fire calls and 258 squad calls.
Hall also said that several department members had received their COVID-19 vaccinations and advised council that while their air bottles and air packs had recently passed inspection, the equipment was aging and would need replaced soon, noting that she was applying for grants to help with that cost.
Hall also made note of issues with transporting patients to Wheeling Hospital due to the closure of Interstate 70 East through Wheeling for the ongoing construction there requiring a significant detour around to get to the hospital.
She went on to say there had been a number of meetings with the Squad Officers Association discussing several alternate routes, but that "None of them are good."
Councilwoman Lorie Grob asked if they could start looking for part-time help for spring and summer soon to give more time to find workers instead of waiting until the last minute.
At Grob's request, a Special Events Committee meeting was scheduled for February 17 at 5:00 p.m. so that planning for Easter and Memorial Day activities could get underway.
Belmont Council's next meeting will be held on Thursday, March 4 at 7:00 p.m. in the Belmont Gymnasium.