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BELLAIRE -- Bellaire Village Council discussed replacing street lights Thursday.
The village received information from David Jingle, owner of Southpointe Industries in Neffs, who noticed that many of the village street lights were out. Jingle wrote that his vendor informed him that the ballasts and lamps that the village currently uses are no longer available. He said that LED fixtures are the only option available.
Jingle wrote asking council members if they would like to replace all of the street lights with LED fixtures so that they all match, or if officials would prefer to just replace the ones that need to be replaced.
Jingle estimates that the cost to repair the street lights would be $300 each and said about 11 lights need repairs.
Clerk Mary Haglioizou read an email from Jingle during a council meeting Thursday.
"The reason this estimate is rough is due to the fact that many of these lights in the past had underground wiring issues, usually in junction boxes embedded in the concrete sidewalks. Until we are able to start, we have no way of knowing if there are wiring issues," she read.
Councilwoman Janet Richardson said the village is considering replacing the sidewalks in the same area where Jingle would be replacing the lights.
"We need to make a decision about whether or not we're going to move forward with also replacing the sidewalks from the administration building to the viaduct so that they match with the streetscape because if that's what we're going to do, and that's what we've submitted for, it makes no sense for him to do this work now and then have it torn up to be done again," she said.
Richardson suggested temporarily repairing the lights that are out, if possible, until the sidewalk work is complete.
"I just want everything to match and also getting us the ability to shut the street lights off and on from a main box here by the administration building and not individually," Richardson said.
Haglioizou said she would contact Jingle to see if the lights could be temporarily repaired.
In other news, Police Chief J.J. Watson said the police department has two new officers, Jacob Lennox and Ben Hoffman. He said both officers are currently working part time.
"We're going to train them for four weeks and then we want to push them into full-time positions," he said.
Watson also said some police officers recently received retention bonus grants from the state of Ohio. He said that the entire department was awarded $16,125.62.
He thanked Fiscal Officer Marla Krupnik for her help in applying for the grant. He said the grant has been in the works since August 2022.
Watson said the cash award was split among five officers, determined by salary.
Krupnik explained that officers who met the requirements for the grant received 10% of their salary.
"They had to work during COVID for a certain period of time. Most of them got about $3,000, and we had one part-timer that got $650," she said.
"It was a long process," Watson added.
Watson also said that the village needs more speed limit signs in the downtown area. He said the entire business area only has one sign on Belmont Street. He hopes that additional signs will make it easier for officers to enforce traffic laws.
Council is also turning in an insurance claim after a waterline break caused damage and flooding to a resident's property. The repairs will cost $16,650 to $18,650.
Mayor Ed Marling said he would call the insurance agency first thing Friday morning.
"We'll get it taken care of," he said.
Marling explained that water department employees checked the water break shortly after it was reported and determined the water did not need to be shut off until the next morning.
Watson said he checked the water break the next morning, and water was flowing onto the resident's property.
Marling said that in the future, the water department will shut off the water right away once a waterline break is reported to prevent future property damage.
Watson said residents should call Belmont County Central Dispatch at 740-699-0425 to report a water break, and dispatchers there will immediately get in touch with village workers.
Meanwhile, Marling said two new cameras were recently installed at the playground and gazebo. He has been looking into getting cameras for several months to help improve village safety.
Marling said the village has ordered boxes to be placed around the cameras to help protect them from damage or from people trying to take them down.
Elizabeth Dugmore, councilwoman at large, was absent from the meeting.