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BELLAIRE -- A village of Bellaire police officer is facing a civil rights complaint in federal court.
Village Council held a closed-door session Thursday to hear about litigation.
After the session, Village Solicitor Michael Shaheen said officials had just learned that an officer within the police department is being sued in United States Southern District Court for an alleged civil rights violation.
He said Police Chief Dick Flanagan was going to address the matter immediately.
"The mayor, council and I are deeply troubled by the allegations," Shaheen said.
Shaheen declined to release more information, such as the officer's identity, as the village had just learned about the allegations on Thursday and Flanagan still needed to speak with the officer.
"It's a civil rights complaint, but it has nothing to do with racist remarks," Shaheen said.
In other matters, the village's new representative on the East Ohio Regional Wastewater Authority board, Barb Goodwin, asked council to consider adopting legislation that would provide extra protection for the village's water source. She said it is something EORWA is concerned about.
"We need to be proactive on this," she said.
Goodwin provided council a copy of related legislation that she said is already in place in the city of Martins Ferry. It calls for restrictions on certain businesses and traffic that could potentially be harmful.
Larry Merry, director of the Belmont County Port Authority, also spoke, adding he was not against the village adopting related legislation, but that it should be crafted to the village's needs and geography.
"I'm not against it, I just think you need to think it through," Merry said, adding he decided to attend the council meeting because he heard that legislation might get passed Thursday evening.
Shaheen said he would facilitate a meeting between the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
Council members and one Bellaire business he has done business with, MPR, to discuss the issue more, which could help decide what should be in the legislation.
MPR announced in May a $9.5 million investment encompassing renovation and construction of 19,000 square feet of facilities along with infrastructure improvements at its Bellaire facility on 50 acres of land adjacent to the Ohio River and Ohio 7.
Meanwhile, Councilwoman Elizabeth Dugmore said she learned recently that EORWA is going to start charging $5 for estimated water readings, beginning Sept. 1.
She added if a water customer sees an estimated reading on their bill to call the water department before the 20th of the month to have an actual reading done as soon as possible.
Dugmore also talked about the newly installed picnic tables in the village park, purchased with federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act money. The new furniture is made out of synthetic material and replaces old wooden pieces that were harder to clean.
"They're lovely. ... People are using them," she said.
Flanagan noted he had a couple street lights replaced that were burned out. He said council may want to consider having the lights replaced with LED bulbs, which would save the village money in the future. He said it would be cheaper to replace just three or four at a time.
Flanagan also mentioned St. John Central Academy is hosting a concert Saturday and the street would be blocked off. The concert starts at 4:30 p.m.