BELMONT — Village officials received an update on the anticipated timeline leading up to the groundbreaking for the new firehouse.

Resident and fire department member Ed Tacosik addressed council during their first meeting of 2025 on Jan. 8.

“Things are moving along,” he said. “As of today, we are looking at advertising for bids on January 31, February 7, and February 14.”

He added that proposals would be due by 3 p.m. March 3 and that the department planned to open and go over the bids in detail at the old firehouse at 3:15 p.m. that same day. He said the public would be welcome to attend.

Village Fiscal Officer Ricky Burkhead noted that there was a council meeting scheduled for March 5, which would allow for quick approval of the winning proposal.

Tacosik said construction could begin as soon as March 17 and that the completion date would be no later than 365 days after ground is broken.

The new facility is being constructed thanks to $3.4 million in federal grant funding that was secured in February 2023. It will allow the village’s fire department to move out of a building that dates to the late 1800s and has been suffering from a variety of structural failures in recent years.

Tacosik also addressed council concerning the need to have a partially fallen tree removed from Belmont Cemetery.

He said that while only a portion of the tree had come down, the entire tree would need to be taken out and provided a number of quotes ranging from $2,850 to $4,000.

Council discussed the matter at length before voting to contract Scott Lucas of Cambridge, Ohio, for $3,400 since it was indicated that he could do the whole removal in one trip and could do so without the need to move any headstones.

Council also passed the first of two resolutions required to place a 1.5-mill continuing levy for cemetery upkeep on the May 6 primary/special election ballot. Burkhead said he had received a preliminary estimate that the levy, if passed, would generate $12,650 annually and noted that the village spends $12,800 on average to have the cemetery mowed each year.

In other business, Councilman Derek Cain was unanimously elected by the other council members to reprise his role as council president.

After a brief closed-door session, Cain proposed a series of pay raises for village water, sewer and street crew members and council voted to suspend the rules requiring that ordinances be read on three separate occasions and then voted unanimously to get the pay increases in place.

Service Director Kerry Kemp’s pay was increased from $16.50 to $17 per hour, part-time employee Ken Orr from $15.50 to $16 per hour and Dan Schmidt from $15 to $15.50 per hour.

Jason Fowler’s position as Water Department Clerk was switched to a salaried position, at an equivalent of $15.83 per hour and working 15 hours per week.

Council also approved increasing the monthly pay for village officials, with the mayor going from $350 to $375, council members from $60 to $75, council president from $85 to $100, water board members from $60 to $75, and water board president from $85 to $100.

Councilwoman Lorie Grob and Mayor Ron Woods noted that the increases for village officials would not go into effect until the next time those positions are decided in an election.

Council held the second reading of an ordinance to increase the rates paid by village water and sewer customers.

Council also held the third and final readings of legislation to change the notice requirements for the village’s property maintenance, upkeep and high grass ordinances.

Council also approved budget appropriations for 2025, with Burkhead noting that the numbers were much higher than usual due to the costs associated with the construction of the firehouse.

Burkhead also announced that the 2024 year-end financial statements were completed and available for the public to review in the village offices.

During his monthly report, Board of Public Affairs President Ken Davis informed council that the village had purchased 69% of its water from Belmont County in December while village wells produced 31% and said that they had been working to locate a suspected water leak.

Belmont Village Council meets at 6 p.m. the first Wednesday of each month in the Stanley Sobel Village Offices on Brown Street.