T-L Photos/GAGE VOTA William Diehl of the Sons of the American Revolution offers the opportunity for St. Clairsville City Council members to sign a copy of the Declaration of Independence that eventually will be signed by the president of the United States of America.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Councilwoman Kristi Lipscomb attempted to clarify her position on the St. Clairsville Junior Sports Association and the property on which it has facilities.

Lipscomb said she has been contacted by residents as recently as Monday afternoon telling her that people who work in the city building have been saying she wants to give all of the gas and oil royalty money from that property to the association.

“That has never been my position. I don’t even believe that it would be legal for the city to write a check to junior sports,” she said. “My feelings are that the royalty money from that property needs to be put back into permanent improvements for recreation for the city.”

She also said that she believes other portions of the royalty money should go into long-term capital improvements to recreation for the city of St. Clairsville as a whole.

“I would agree with Kristi. That’s been her position all along,” Council Member Mike Smith said. “I don’t know where that is coming from.”

Meanwhile, Mayor Kathryn Thalman reported that she was asked to speak at the announcement of a grant award for the Cumberland Trail Fire District a few weeks ago.

“Because of the hard work of all the members of the Cumberland Trail committee, Chief (Tim) Hall, and the work of my administration and council, they now own their building and are eligible for grants,” Thalman said. “Through the hard work of Chief Hall and his team, federal grants totaling $1.7 million are now available for the updating and expanding of this very important facility.”

The district plans to renovate its Main Station, located on Marietta Street, with the grant funding. It was announced last month that the CTFD had been awarded $1.575 million secured by U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and the office of former Congressman Bill Johnson, R-Ohio. The money comes in the form of a Congressionally Directed Spending Grant as part of the FIscal 2024 Omnibus Bill.

The station, originally built in 1978, will be expanded and remodeled. Hall said the $1.575 million is a matching grant that will cover 35% of the renovation project. The fire district must pay the remaining 65%, or $2,925,000, of the total $4.5 million cost. Voters approved a replacement levy for an additional 1 mill last May to generate the necessary revenue.

Thalman next introduced William Diehl to briefly speak as a guest at Monday’s meeting.

“The main reason I’m here tonight is to extend to you the opportunity to sign a Declaration of Independence, which is a statewide project we’re doing for the Sons of the American Revolution,” Diehl said.

He said he has gotten about 75 signatures from multiple city councils. The document eventually will be presented to and signed by the President of the United States of America. Diehl said Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted have both signed the declaration. Diehl ended his speaking time by passing around the copy of the Declaration of Independence to the council members, giving them the opportunity to sign it.