T-L Photo/GAGE VOTA St. Clairsville Area Chamber of Commerce Lisa Kindler attends her first St. Clairsville City Council meeting since recently accepting the role of executive director.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Lisa Kindler, the newly appointed director of the St. Clairsville Area Chamber of Commerce, addressed city council at its regular meeting Monday to inform members about upcoming events the city will be hosting on Main Street.

She also asked council to consider closing Main Street during those events.

On Oct. 23, the chamber will be holding its annual Halloween Bash from 5:30-8 p.m. with a street closure from 4-8:30 p.m. She said the reason for the street closure before and after the event is for setup and cleanup.

On Nov. 22, she will be holding the annual Light-Up Night from 4-8 p.m. and will need a closure from noon until 10 p.m.

“The reason for that being so long is because the ice skating rink needs the extra time to set up,” Kindler said.

Lastly she asked for a street closure on Dec. 7 for the annual St. Clairsville Christmas Parade, with the street closure being from noon until 4 p.m.

After providing the dates and times to council, she asked if anyone had any issues with any of them because, if so, she would be happy to change them to accommodate the city.

Mayor Kathryn Thalman congratulated Kindler on her new job and said that she looks forward to working with her in her new role.

Kinder is no stranger to the city or the chamber. Before accepting the new job, she served the past three years as the assistant director to Wendy Anderson who recently left to work for a different organization.

“I work in the city. I’ve lived in St Clairsville for the past 13 years. My kids go to school at St. Clairsville. I’m excited to work with everybody,” Kindler said.

Thalman told Kindler she is always welcome to come to the city building to talk to her about any issues or concerns, and she will assist her in any way that she can.

Following Thalman’s remarks, all of the members of council voted in favor of closing Main Street for the dates and times that Kindler requested.

Council President Jim Velas then informed council that another street closure request was filed. The Belmont County Tourism Council requested that Main Street be closed from 3:45-6:45 p.m. July 31 for the Milestones and Memories event. It will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Ohio section of the National Road and the 10th anniversary of the Belmont County Heritage Museum.

Councilwoman Kristi Lipscomb said she didn’t believe council should approve the request because she believes the closure is not needed. She added that she doesn’t want to be difficult, but said unless tourism Executive Director Jackee Pugh provides a valid reason to close Main Street for the event, then she doesn’t believe it’s justified.

Lipscomb then asked Velas if Pugh, who wasn’t present at the meeting, provided any reasoning in her request email. Velas informed Lipscomb he had assumed Pugh was going to be at the meeting to provide a reasoning for the closure request but she was not.

Lipscomb said the main reason she’s against the closure is because it is in the middle of the day on a Thursday.

“That’s right in the middle of the day on a weekday. The courthouse is still open, and then all of the businesses will be open,” Lipscomb said.

She then asked Police Chief Matt Arbenz if he was contacted about the request. He replied that he had received an email regarding the potential street closure earlier in the day and didn’t receive any additional information.

Council at first decided to table the matter and reach out to Pugh before the next meeting, when a decision would be made.

Thalman interjected that there would not be another council meeting before the event so it needed to come to a decision at the current meeting.

Arbenz then suggested that council could potentially vote to instead close North Market Street from Main street to Newell Avenue. He said this way, any type of vendors, catering, media, etc. will be able to park next to the Heritage Museum while not closing Main Street and not hindering traffic flow for the businesses or the courthouse through the day.

After taking a few minutes to contemplate, council voted unanimously to close North Market Street from Main Street to Newell Avenue from 3:45-6:45 p.m. July 31.