T-L Photo/LENNY WITTENBROOK Flushing Mayor Preston Eberhart, right, swears in Ashley Barto to fill the third and final council seat that was vacated when three council members resigned in May.

FLUSHING — Village leaders decided to move forward with repairs to the amphitheater in Schuler Park after filling the last of three council seats that had been vacated in May.

During a meeting held July 17, Mayor Preston Eberhart administered the oath of office to Ashley Barto, explaining that she had been selected by the other five council members to fill the final empty council seat following a closed-door session that had been held during the June meeting.

During the June meeting, Eberhart had appointed former mayor and councilman Angelo Vincenzo and former village administrator and councilman Bryan Clark to the seats vacated by Chuck and Erin Nucci. They had resigned in May, citing negative and violent rhetoric toward the village government on social media as the reason for their leaving.

Eberhart said Barto would be completing the six remaining months of the term vacated by Eric McCort in May and informed her that there was still time to file paperwork to be on the ballot in November.

Eberhart opened the floor to nominations for president pro tempore of council. Vincenzo declined Councilwoman Sandy Twarog’s nomination, saying that the term to which he had been appointed ends in December and that he has no plans to remain on council after that.

Vincenzo then nominated Clark, who accepted the nomination for the leadership position, and the rest of council voted unanimously in favor. Eberhart said he would have updated committee assignments ready for the August meeting.

During the July meeting, council also moved forward with a number of projects.

Twarog said the often-discussed issues with the ceiling of the amphitheater at Schuler Park required action.

“We need to get that ceiling on there. It is a mess every time somebody tries to use it,” she said.

Eberhart said the main question with that project was whether they would purchase the materials and have the village crew do the repairs or hire someone to do the work.

Village Administrator Kris Chini said he had a quote on materials needed for the repair that ranged from $1,500 to $3,000, depending on what materials they wanted to use. Clark made a motion that the village crew would perform the repairs and use tin, setting a budget of $3,500 for the project. The motion was approved by all council members.

Vincenzo inquired about the availability of funds for the expenditure, but Eberhart said due to the absence of Fiscal Officer Jeryl McGaffick from the meeting that he did not have “money answers.”

The village has often in the past tapped into its gas and oil funds to pay for projects in the park.

Twarog also asked about an apparent water leak near the old city building on High Street, and Chini said he believed it was coming from the service line running to Dr. Robert Kolanski’s dentistry office next door. He said the crew needed to be able to turn his line off temporarily to be sure and that they were planning to do so.

Chini informed council that the lift station on Station Hill needed new check valves and shutoffs, noting that those were the only ones in the village that had not yet been replaced and that he had priced the needed parts at around $4,000.

Council approved spending up to $5,000 on parts and materials for the project.

Clark asked Chini about possibly trimming weeds on the roadside areas of overgrown, abandoned properties in the village, citing safety and civic pride and saying it was something he and the village crew made a practice of while he was village administrator.

Chini said that he didn’t think they should be responsible for mowing or cutting on private properties and argued that if they demonstrated a willingness to take care of those areas, others in the village might stop mowing and trimming roadside areas.

Vincenzo asked about issuing letters and citations for high grass, saying he had those documents from his stint as mayor. Eberhart said they were awaiting reworked legislation to deal with neglected and abandoned property issues from village Solicitor Gary Smith.

Eberhart said he had contacted officials from the Belmont County Land Reutilization Corp. about mowing the old nursing home property on High Street that it abated and still owns.

Clark also asked Chini about downed limbs in the park, and Chini said the crew picked up limbs every time they mowed. Barto said she walks her dogs in the park regularly and that there were new limbs coming down every day, noting there were a couple of pine trees that were particularly bad in that regard.

Meanwhile, Eberhart said that while some of the issues had been resolved surrounding properties that were auctioned off by the village last year, some legal and tax issues are yet to be resolved. But he said they were making progress toward getting all of those sales finalized.

Council approved renewing employee health insurance and maintaining the same coverage at a 6.9% increase over last year’s premiums.

Resident Stephanie Schneider asked if any progress had been made toward the village having ordinances available online. Eberhart responded that they were currently updating and revising a number of ordinances and that they would look into making them available online after that is completed.

Flushing Village Council will meet again at 6 p.m. Aug. 14 in the village offices on High Street.