Potter Players Presents "The NIck of Time Christmas Show"

The Christmas show will run for one week-end only starting Thursday evening, December 1. All performances will be at the Playhouse located at 417 15th Street.

Directed by Mary Beth Morse you won't want to miss it. It is family friendly entertainment that will tickle your funny bone. For more information or to make reservations call 330-532-5540.

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New Decorations Adorn Wellsville's Broadway Park

Getting the spirit of Christmas started in one part of town was a group of people emulating the old Village Beautification Committee. Recalling the beautiful decorations the old committee used to fill Broadway Park with years ago, Councilwoman Rosie Goss announced it would be nice to try to do that again. Saying that the park is one of the nicest areas in the village, Goss recruited fellow Councilwoman Sue Haugh and together they started to get the ball rolling a few months ago. The Wellsville Revitalization Committee donated all the proceeds from their Village Yard Sale toward that goal. The yard sale was held in September.

Along with that very generous donation and with help from other groups and individuals the informal committee was able to purchase some new wreaths and strings of lights for the antique lamp posts in the park. There was only enough to get wreaths and other Christmas decorations for the middle park this year. There was enough to get strings of lights for nearly all the light poles.

The Saturday before Thanksgiving was decoration day. Members of the Wellsville Volunteer Fire Department turned out in force along with others to put up the decorations. The "Mayor of Broadway" Jack Smith kept a watchful eye on the proceedings. He and his lovely bride Garnett furnished the decorators with hot coffee, hot chocolate and brownies. Contributing to effort the Smiths donated the poinsettias for the flower pots on either side of the big fountain.

Goss and Haugh noted that hopefully this is just the beginning in the park decorating efforts. It is hoped that in years to come more decorations can be added to what was accopmplished this year. We would like to note that the group that accomplished this year's efforts are an informal group who came together with a common goal. Not one cent of village government funds was spent on the new decorations. It is just a group of folks way of saying Happy Holidays to all of Wellsville and all of its friends.

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Reporting On The Reporter

The Wellsville Crime Watch Committee wrapped up their meetings for this year with veteran news reported Jo Ann Bobby-Gilbert presenting the program. The meeting was held at Village Hall on November 17.

Bobby-Gilbert, shown here addressing the Crime Watch members, has over 30 years experience as a “newshound” in the print media. She often jokes it is believed she has printing ink running through her veins instead of blood.

Bobby-Gilbert got her start in the newspaper business first working for the Youngstown Vindicator. She has spent time with the Columbiana Ledger and the Panhandle Press, both weekly newspapers. She has been with the Morning Journal, a local area newspaper, for 27 years. Although she did not mention it to the Crime Watch Committee she got her first taste of reporting being a member of the Beaver Local Tales staff while she was a student at Beaver Local High School.

The Morning Journal is owned and operated by Ogden News which is headquartered in Wheeling, WV. In addition to the Morning Journal, Ogden also owns East Liverpool's The Review and the Salem News. All three local papers are printed in Lisbon and they share news stories from each others beat reporters. That is why you will see the same reporters by-line in all three papers.

Ogden has 40 daily newspapers in 12 different states from Florida to Hawaii in addition to nine in Ohio that include our three local papers. The company also publishes 15 magazines which include Mother Earth News, Farm Collector and Grit to name a few. Ogden also owns the Seven Springs Ski Resort and has a major ownership in the Pittsburgh Pirates Baseball Club.

Until recent personnel moves Bobby-Gilbert covered Wellsville, Salineville and everything in between. She currently covers the East Liverpool beat. She concluded her remarks saying for her reporting is not just a job. It's her life.

The Crime Watch Committee will be taking the winter months off before resuming their activities. The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 15. 2012.


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Wellsville Chamber To Get Village Christmas Season Started

The Wellsville Area Chamber of Commerce will get the village's Christmas Season started off beginning Thursday evening, December 1. The annual light up night festivities will begin at 6 PM where they turn this sad looking pine tree into a bright symbol of Christmas.

Students from Garfield Elementary will be on hand to entertain with signing of some carols. The litany of those memorialized on the Christmas bulbs will be read. Santa will be on hand to hear requests and pose for pictures. Pictures with pets will be permitted. All of Thursday's activities will be held at the Gazebo in the 4th Street Square. Santa will have Christmas treats for the children.

On Saturday evening, December 3, the annual Christmas parade will be held starting a 6 PM. As of the 17th there were 28 units signed up for the parade. Lining up for the parade will begin at 5 PM. Anyone interested in being part of the parade can pick up registration forms at either Village Hall or CF Bank.

Dress warmly. It's suppose to be chilly...

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Lady Tigers To Kick-off 2011-2012 WHS Basketball Season

The Wellsville 2011-2012 Basketball season gets underway this evening in the Tiger's Den when the high school ladies host the East Liverpool Lady Potters. The action gets started at 6 PM with the Reserves.

The Lady Tigers will have six returning letter winners with four senior players among them. The returning letter winners are Irene Kiser, Maleya Fultz, Meika Dalrymple, Courtney Cook, Rilee Livolsi & Mikyla Tipton. Tipton went past the 1,000 total career points last year and is on pace to set a new Wellsville scoring record.

With Tipton and the rest of a very talented team it will be an exciting season of basketball. You won't want to miss a single game.

Good Luck Ladies...

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Wellsville's Friends of the Library To Hold Pasta Extravaganza

Stop by the high school to enjoy some delicious pasta before heading on up to the Christmas Auction or the basketball game. Sponsored by the WHS National Honor Society the Friends of the Library will be holding a pasta extravaganza this coming Friday at the Wellsville High School Auditeria. The high school is located at 1 Bengal Drive. Tickets will be placed in a drawing for a $100 cash prize.

The menu will have spaghetti and meatballs or fettuccini alfredo along with a salad, garlic bread, homemade dessert and beverage. Carry-outs will be available.

Tickets are available from any member of the Friends of the Library or at the Library itself. All proceeds will benefit the Wellsville Carnegie Public Library. For more information call 330-532-1526.

Dinners will be served from 4 to 7 PM.

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Wellsville's Revitalization Committee To Hold 2nd Annual Christmas Auction

The 2nd Annual Christmas Auction will be held by Wellsville's Revitalization Committee this coming Friday, December 2. The auction will be held at Sell's Auction located at 409 Broadway in Wellsville.

There will be something for everyone plus door prizes and a 50/50 drawing. For more information call 330-532-9064.

It all begins at 5:30 PM.

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Wellsville Council Looks Toward 2012

Tuesday – November 15: Wellsville's Village Council held their first post-election meeting this past Tuesday at Village Hall. All Council members were present except Joe Soldano and fellow members voted to excuse his absence. Also present was Mayor Joe Surace, Fiscal Officer Dale Davis, Village Administrator Jim Saracco and Zoning Administrator Rick Williams.

In the Public Speaking portion of the agenda Main Street resident Sherry Allen speaking on behalf of the Daw Middle School 7th & 8th Grade Girls Basketball Teams Boosters sought Council's permission to have an unscheduled tag day on Saturday, November 19. Allen explained the boosters have a joint account with the Volleyball boosters and they are broke. Any proceeds would go toward shoes and jerseys for the girls. A motion by Councilman Allmon was carried.

Riverside resident Jack Cataldo stated “I would like to publically congratulate you Sue on your win and I wish you the best of luck”. Cataldo was addressing Councilwoman Sue Haugh on her winning the Mayor's office in last week's General Election. Cataldo was one of the three opposing candidates for that office. Haugh thanked him and expressed that she hoped he'll be at the other end of the phone when she calls him.

In the Mayor's Report, Surace added his congratulations to “Madam Mayor” and Councilmen-elect John Morrow & Don Brown who were in attendance. He wished all three the best of luck.

Surace also reported that he received a call from Mike Pusateri of Pusateri Excavating who advised new conduit has been installed for the underground electrical line to the flood pumps at 2nd Street. He has been in contact with AEP and they will have the line repaired in the “next couple of weeks”. Surace was referring to an electrical line that was damaged this past spring while the contractor was digging to repair a sewage line.

For New Business Councilman Tony Cataldo advised there is a parcel of property at 1111 Center Street that failed to sell two different times at a Sheriff's Sale. Cataldo noted that the house is fixable and suggested that the Village take it and bid it out for the highest price. It was noted it would cost the village $108 for an auditor's deed and made a motion for the solicitor to petition the court for title to the property. The motion passed.

Cataldo reminded the Mayor that a Special Council meeting will be needed next week to award the bids for the pump station.

Cataldo got a motion passed that the Village apply for a Nature Works Grant for 2012 that is due in February for playground equipment, the baseball fields or tennis courts at Hammonds Park or whatever the Property Committee comes up with.

Cataldo also got a motion passed to apply for a federally funded ODOT grant for new sidewalks and lighting within three blocks of a school. It is unsure if it will be funded in 2012. Cataldo noted it's “an enhancement grant” and the Village does have to accept it if matching funds are not available.

Cataldo also advised that the Issue I project for streets and catch basins had to be cut back for 2012. Commerce Street from 9th to 15th is still being planned but Center Street had to be cut back to only include 10th to 13th. The reason for this is the number of catch basins included and Cataldo stated “the catch basins are more important”.

Cataldo finished with a reminder that it will be necessary to increase sewage rates if not this year then next. He stated the village is not taking in enough to pay the United Water contract. Sewage Committee Chairman Randy Allmon said he would set up a meeting.

Before closing Allmon reminded everyone that the Christmas Light Up Night will be 6 PM on Thursday, December 1. Also the annual Christmas parade will begin at 6 PM Saturday, December 3.

The meeting adjourned at 6:20 PM. The next regularly schedule meeting is Tuesday, December 6, at 6 PM at Village Hall.

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Wellsville Elects New Mayor & Three New Members of Council

There were tears of joy, sighs of relief, plenty of smiles and lots of hugs at the Haugh For Mayor campaign party held last night at the Wellsville Alumni Activities Center. The air was kind of tense with apprehension until a little after 8 o'clock last night when Jeff Haugh read the numbers for the first run-off. With an 80 point lead at that time things began to loosened up a little. It's amazing what can be accomplished with cell phones getting those results from a remote location.

Wellsville went to the polls yesterday. They elected a new mayor and three replacements for Council seats. Mrs. Susan Haugh took 41% of the 844 votes cast for Wellsville mayor yesterday. Mrs. Nancy Murray came in second with 30% of the vote. Haugh currently serves as a member of Wellsville Council. She is midway through her term on Council. A replacement will be named to fill her unexpired Council term. Murray is a political newcomer and is presently a part-time Village employee.

Out of three incumbents running for Wellsville Council only one was re-elected. There was a total of seven names on the ballot for Village voters to choose from to fill four spots. Tony Cataldo is the only incumbent winning re-election, getting 15.5% or 404 of the votes. Two former Council members will be returning. Don Brown garnered the most votes with 405. Diane Dinch came in third with 393 votes and political new comer John Morrow picked up the remaining spot with 376 votes. Losing in bids for re-election was Randy Allmon and John McMahon. Joe Soldano gave up his chance to be re-elected to Council and threw his hat in the ring in an unsuccessful bid for the Mayor's seat.

All the numbers quoted above have to be certified by the Board of Elections. The pictures in the collage are some of those attending the party last night. It's impressive to see the support of family, friends, cohorts and old classmates being shown for Mayor-elect Haugh last night. Mrs. Haugh is still nearly two months away from being sworn in and she has already made Wellsville history. She is the first female to ever be elected as Mayor of Wellsville.

Looking over the numbers Mayor-elect Haugh remarked the people of Wellsville have spoken. They want change.

Amen to that...

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Wellsville Signs An Agreement For Gas & Oil Drilling

A bit of good news for Wellsville.. let us rephrase that, emphasizing what we consider great news for the Village, is the recent deal Village officials made with Chesapeake Energy. At a Special Council Meeting this past Friday the Wellsville Village Council voted unanimously to authorize Fiscal Officer Dale Davis to sign any and all documents necessary for the lease transaction with Chesapeake for oil and/or gas drilling as negotiated by ALOV (Associated Land Owners of the Ohio Valley). At a meeting last Saturday in Minerva that was arranged by ALOV officials those documents were signed by Mr. Davis.

We suspected something was soon to be resolved a couple of weeks ago when we spotted a small article in the Youngstown Vindicator. It pertained to ALOV finalizing a deal with drillers. After making inquiries locally to no avail we were left still wondering about Wellsville. All we could find out at the time was that no deal had been reached.

Back in April of this year there was a Council Property Committee meeting held with a representative from a company called Evenflow Eastern explaining some details about drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale. The Property Committee is chaired by Councilwoman Susan Haugh and has Rosie Goss & Randy Allmon on it.

At another Property Committee meeting on July 12 Haugh brought in ALOV to explain what they do. ALOV is a nonprofit association that formed to represent landowners in negotiating the best contract possible with drilling companies. On July 28 another Special Council Meeting was held for the purpose of authorizing the Village to join ALOV. After that meeting everything got quiet about any drilling leases for Wellsville. At that time they were talking about leases going for around $2,200 an acre.

At the Meet the Candidates Night two weeks ago candidate for Mayor, Sue Haugh dropped another hint when she sent a note apologizing for not being present, saying she was at an out of town meeting in regards of for a brighter future for Wellsville. Arriving later she told all those assembled that she couldn't disclose her reason for missing the event but that she felt she was doing her job as a Councilwoman representing Wellsville “in your best interest”. She later advised us there would be an announcement on November 5.

Not finding anything in the papers on November 6 we contacted Mayor Joe Surace and bluntly asked if Wellsville had struck a deal with Chesapeake. He confirmed that they had but didn't have all the details and referred me to Councilwoman Haugh. Surace said she was at the Saturday meeting along with Fiscal Officer Davis.

Haugh finally filled us in on the basic details. Fiscal Officer Dale Davis signed an agreement with Chesapeake as negotiated by ALOV on Saturday for over 300 acres of Village owned property. Wellsville will get $5,800 an acre plus 20% royalties once drilling production begins. Chesapeake will pay the Village a lump sum amount of $1.9 million depending on title searches coming back clean with no encumbrances on any of the parcels of land. That amount will be paid to Wellsville as soon as the the title searches are completed . They have 90 days to accomplish that.

Once drilling is started there will be 20% royalties paid on any gas or oil produced. The royalties paid will be shared with all the landowners that were part of this most recent lease deal and paid monthly. If there is oil or gas found under the land of one of other property owners, say in Carroll County, that signed this latest agreement Wellsville will get a share of those royalties. Carroll County was use just as an example. We do not know the locations or the number of landowners involve in the deal struck Saturday in Minerva. The Village has the cemetery property, Hammonds Park, the old reservoir and the old garbage dump. Part of the lease stipulates there will not be any surface drilling in either the cemetery or Hammonds Park.

We do know that this is extremely good news especially when some Village officials are considering budget cuts. Property Chairwoman Haugh and her committee are to be commended. When filling us in on the details yesterday Haugh highly praised the work and professional efforts put forth by Fiscal Officer Dale Davis and Village Legal Advisor Attorney Andy Beech.

It is exciting news for the village …

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Wellsville Tigers Bow Out Of The Play-offs

Saturday – November 5: The 2011 WHS Tiger's Football Team did something this past Saturday afternoon that no other Wellsville high school football team has done in the past ten years. They went to the first round of the Ohio High School Athletic Association play-offs. They loaded up the bus and traveled down the river to take on the Shadyside Tigers, an old Buckeye Border Conference foe, in the OHSAA Regional Quarterfinals.

The scoring didn't quite go the way we would have liked. It was a tough game for the Wellsville crew. There was 3:02 left in the second quarter before Wellsville got on the boards making the score, at that point, Shadyside 28-Wellsville 6. Shadyside was opening up some unbelievable holes and their speedy backs were burning up some real estate.

Regardless the final score being Shadyside 46-6 the hometown folks are very proud of the Wellsville team. As they did all season they never quit and conducted themselves like true sportsmen right down the line.

Congratulations and good luck to the Shadyside team. Shadyside will take on Youngstown Christian next Saturday in the Regional Semi-finals at New Philly's Woody Hayes Quaker Stadium. Youngstown Christian has a 10&1 record on the year and are seeded #3 in the region.

Congratulations also to the Wellsville Tigers. Thanks for a great season of football...

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Wellsville Council's Finance Committee Considers 2012 Budget Cuts

Friday – November 4: Wellsville Council's Finance Committee met this past Friday with Village Fiscal Officer Dale Davis to go over the projected 2012 Village Budget. Present at the meeting was Committee Chairman Tony Cataldo, Committee Members Joe Soldano and John McMahon. Also attending was Councilwoman Susan Haugh, Village Administrator Jim Saracco and Zoning Administrator Rick Williams.

Cataldo reported that projected fund balances at the end of October will have $4,294 in the General Fund, $2,078 in the Street Fund, $2,300 in the State Highway Fund and $4,560 in the Cemetery Fund. Total of all funds is $339,311 as October 31. Davis advised these figures are not exact. His department is still in the process of balancing all accounts for the month of October, which is normal for so soon after the close of a month. Cataldo added that at the end of September the total of all funds was $402,479. The biggest expenses for October was for the operation of the Sewage Treatment Plant and payment to the contractor that is installing the new sewage digesters. With all levy monies in for the year Cataldo concluded the amounts are “bad figures for this time of the year”.

Looking to the budget for next year it was reported that it will be necessary to cut approximately $70,000 in 2012's budget. With money being spent on the various projects investment funds are nearly $150,000 less as of July 31 of this year than they were in 2010. Interest rates on investments are extremely low. Another loss in revenue will the the Local Government Funds (LGF) received. The Village received $79,575 LGF in 2010. It is projected to be $74,426 for 2011, reduced to $47,446 in 2012 and to $37,213 in 2013. Income tax revenue seems to on the decline also.

Also of major concern for the committee is the cost of employee health insurance when it comes due for renewal in March 2012. The US DOJ COPS grant expires at the end of next June. At that time the Village has to finance the fourth year per the agreement.

Wellsville Village employees currently do not have to pay for their health insurance. It is a free benefit for them. One suggestion that the Fiscal Officer proposed at a meeting this past September was to have the employees pay a share of their health insurance costs to help off set the ever increasing cost of health insurance. However, that may be a mute point if State Issue 2 is approved on the ballot next Tuesday. One of the stipulations of Senate Bill 5 is to have public employees pay a minimum of 15% of their health insurance costs. It is estimated that 15% would amount to over $38,000 in savings to the Village. To date no recommendations have been made by the Finance Committee.

Councilwoman Haugh asked Davis “As the Fiscal Officer do you see making any cuts without getting rid of employees?” Davis responded by reminding the Finance Committee members of his suggestons he put in writing to them back in September. In addition to the employee health insurance contributions he recommended eliminating named holidays and changing them to personal days off. Presently if an employee is required to work on a name holiday they are paid double time and half for working that day. By changing them to personal days employees would still receive 11 extra days off but holidays would be just another scheduled work day without the extra holiday cost bonuses.

Davis concluded that there is still some “belt tightening” that can be done without considering lay-offs noting that everyone has to share in the cost savings measures.

Cataldo adjourned the meeting asking that ways to come up with budget cuts be considered. There has to be a balanced budget proposed for 2012. Another meeting will be schedule at a later date.

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Wellsville Student Body Give Football Players A Resounding "GO TIGERS!"

Before the dismissal bell rang today the Wellsville High School student body took part in a pep rally to show their support for the play-off bound Tiger football players. The Tigers finished the regular season in the number 7 spot on the Division VI - Region 21 OHSAA poll. It earned them a ticket to the first round of the play-offs in their division. It's a ticket a Wellsville football team hasn't seen in 10 years.

Tomorrow the Wellsville Orange & Black travel to Shadyside to play in that fist round of the play-offs. Their classmates assembled to wish them all the luck in the world this afternoon.

Kick off is 7 PM Saturday evening in a sea of Orange & Black at Fleming Field in Shadyside, Ohio. It will be the Wellsville Tigers vs the Shadyside Tigers.

Good Luck Wellsville! We're behind you 100%.

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Few Remaining Fall Leaves With Splash of Color

It was a beautiful day around Wellsville with bright sunshine. It was the kind of day you have to take advantage of this time of the year. It always seems that once we turn back the clocks we jump into to winter. Here are a few scenes we captured while enjoying the sunshine. Hope you enjoy them too.

With the rain and winds lately the colorful fall leaves are nearly gone.

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Wellsville's First Christian Continues Annual Care & Share Support

As they have for the past nine years the members of the Wellsville's First Christian Church are having a benefit 'Cream Chicken over Biscuits' dinner for the Lions Club Christmas Care & Share program. This year they will be drawing for a door prize. All the details are listed in the flyer shown above.

Every penny taken in at the door goes to the annual Care & Share program. First Christian picks up the tab for the cost of the food. They keep nothing for their expenses.

As Neil Diamond sang in the song Brother Love's Traveling Show "pack up the babies, grab the ol' ladies and travel on down" to First Christian on Wednesday. Your support will be greatly appreciated and your appetite will be glad you did...

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Tigers #1 In Wellsville Hearts

On Saturday night show 'em who's the tuffest Tiger in the Valley Wellsville....

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WAMA Releases Community Ministerial Revival Schedule

The Wellsville Area Ministerial Association have announced details of their annual Fall Revival. This year they are calling it the “Community Ministerial Revival”. The revival involves the whole community with locations rotating to the different churches in the village and different guest ministers delivering the message. The public is invited to join in the services each evening.

The revival will begin on Sunday evening, November 13, at Wellsville's Church of the Nazerene, 1620 Maple Avenue with Pastor Darlene Zanders delivering the message. Monday, November 14, the services will be held at the First Christian Chuch located at 831 Main with Rev. Jay Nightengale. Tuesday, November 15, services will be held at the Central United Methodist Church at 1000 Main Street with Pastor Mark Blakely. The last day of the revival will be Wednesday, November 16, at the First Baptist Church, 1401 Center Street with Pastor Dirk Hall. Services will begin at 6:30 PM each evening.

Also, on Sunday evening, November 20, there will be a Community Thanksgiving Service which will be held at the Covenant Presbyterian Church located at 401 18th Street. Bishop Bill Rudder will be the guest pastor.

The public is invited to both the Community Revival and the Community Thanksgiving Services.

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Tigers Going To The Play-offs

While other area schools are getting ready for basketball and wrestling the Wellsville Tigers are preparing for their first play-off game in 10 years. It will be the Tigers vs the Tigers. On Saturday the Wellsville Tigers travel down Route 7 to take on the Shadyside Tigers at Fleming Field. Game time is 7 PM.

The Wellsville team wrapped up their regular season schedule with a 30-6 win over ITCL rival Jackson Milton this past Friday. It was Senior Night. Wellsville finished the season with a 5&5 record. That win landed the Orange & Black in the number 7 spot in the final OHSAA Division VI – Region 21 poll. The top 8 teams go to the play-offs. Shadyside finished their regular season schedule with a 7&3 record winding up in the Number 2 spot in Region 21.

Tickets will be sold at the high school on Friday, November 4, from 9:30 AM to 1 PM and again from 3 to 5:30 PM. They will also be on hand Saturday from 10 AM until noon. Tickets cost $7 if you buy them ahead. The price jumps to $9 if you buy them at the game. The Wellsville Touchdown Club will be on hand selling play-off shirts in the high school office.

The Shadyside Boosters Club will be holding a tailgate party two hours before the game according to the newspapers. If you're going dress warmly. The temperature is suppose to drop down to near freezing once the sun goes down. Google maps says it takes about one hour and 14 minutes to cover the 50 miles down Route 7. Fleming Field is located on W. 38th Street in Shadyside, OH.

If you're not making the trip Joe & Roger will be broadcasting the game on the internet WHS Sports Station. That can be found at www.wellsvillealumni.com. The game will be shown on WTOV Channel 9 Sunday at noon.

Pictures above are from last Friday's Jackson Milton game. The bonus picture is the McMahon house getting into the spirit.

Good Luck Wellsville Tigers...

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Wellsville Village Council Meets

Tuesday – November 1: Wellsville Village Council held their regular bi-monthly meeting this Tuesday. Mayor Joe Surace and all members of Council were present in addition to Village Administrator Jim Saracco, Fiscal Offier Dale Davis and Village Legal Advisor Andy Beech.

In the Public Speaking portion of the agenda, Chamber of Commerce President-elect Diana Spencer, soon to be Mrs. Allmon, thanked members of Wellsville's First Christian Church for painting the gazebo. She especially thanked Pastor Mark Blakely, Youth Pastor Brandon Russell, along with Lyndsey Mackall, Joshua Blakely and Lori Harmon.

Connie Carmichael of the Alley Cat Aide Brigade Committee informed Council that the 4th Annual Christmas for the Animals will be held at the 4th Street Square gazebo on Sunday, December 4. More information will be forthcoming in the near future.

Dave Butcher of 12th Street advised council he would like to volunteer his time doing custodial work around Village Hall.

For Administration Reports, Jim Saracco advised he “got a call from Mr. Pusateri. Said he contacted AEP and they will by the mid of this month repair the electrical problem up at 2nd Street”. Saracco was referring to an electrical line to the last remaining flood pump at that location. This past spring workers damaged the line while in the process of repairing a break in the forced main sewage line. Council set a November 18 deadline to have the line repaired at the last meeting. With the deadline was the threat of getting the line repaired and then billing the company for the work.

For the Mayor's Report, Surace reported that the sidewalk project along Main Street should be completed by Wednesday or Thursday. Surace added his thanks to members of First Christian saying they have been very helpful to the Village with all they have undertaken. After services one Sunday this past summer they donned work clothes and did some street cleaning in the village. The Mayor also wished “all the luck in the world” to all the candidates in next Tuesday's General Election.

Council approved a motion made by Water, Sewer & Refuse Committee Chairman Randy Allmon to authorize the Village Administrator to advertise for bids for Pump Station #1 Improvements. A bid is in today's (November 3) Morning Journal doing just that. Previous bids for the pump station and the whole forced main line exceeded bid estimates. At the last Council meeting in October Saracco reported that the project has been put on the “back burner”. There will be a Pre-bid Meeting at 11 AM November 10 at Village Hall on the new bid. The bidding deadline is November 18.

Finance Committee Chairman Tony Cataldo announced there will be a meeting Friday, November 4 at 12 noon to work on the 2012 Village Budget. Cataldo requested that the Fiscal Officer have copies of the budget available for all Council members along with estimates of how much will have to be cut out of the budget next year.

Personnel Committee Chairman Joe Soldano announced that Labcorp will be closing their office on St. Clair on November 23. Employees that haven't gotten their blood tests for the new insurance carrier will need to find another source for their tests. Soldano noted he didn't think that East Liverpool City Hospital was an approved site for the required tests. Dale Davis advised they could get a list of approved clinics. Councilman Allmon added that Cemetery Caretaker Mike Lombardozzi is resigning and he didn't know what “we're going to do about it' adding that no one has been trained for the job. Allmon feels who ever replaces Lombardozzi would need at least two weeks training, adding the jobs are no longer put out on bids. Davis noted there has been no written resignations received. Surace suggested the resignation “is coming around the corner” and suggested a meeting be held to at least get someone trained up there.

Claims, Rules & Ordinance Chairwoman Rosie Goss inquired if a thank you was sent to the Chester VFW for donating $500 for new tasers. Surace said he believes the Police Department got two new tasers and a thank you note will be sent “first thing in the morning”.

For New Business Councilman John McMahon offered congratulations to the WHS Football Team for making the play-offs for the first time in 10 years. McMahon noted his grandson Jeff “Cheeseburger” McMahon is a member of that football squad.

Council chose to ignore taking any action on an Ohio Division of Liquor Control transfer permit for a C1 license. The transfer was from Robin Brandt to Kiris Murray for 100% ownership of stock for the For Your Convenience store on 17th Street. Davis advised that the police did a background check on Murray and found nothing to prevent the transfer of the permit. Councilwoman Haugh questioned Council's options saying everybody knows what's being done. She added she was not comfortable with the transfer. Legal Advisor Beech advised that Council does not have to approve it. They can ignore it and it will automatically go into effect. Later down the road Council can't have fingers pointing at them if there are problems. The convenience store is located next door to Garfield Elemetary.

Council went into a 30 minute Executive Session to discuss purchasing of real property, drilling leases and legal advice on both subjects. When making the motion Haugh invited Saracco, Beech and Davis to join them. When they returned Surace announced there will be a Special Council meeting Friday, November 4 at 1 PM. Nothing else was said about what was discussed behind closed doors.

The meeting adjourned at 6:47 PM. The next regular meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, November 15 at 6 PM.

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Wellsville Seniors Recognized

Eleven WHS Seniors and their folks were recognized before the start of last week's Wellsville vs. Jackson Milton football game. It was the last home game of the 2011 season. It was Senior Night.

Introduced to the home crowd was band member Seth Dinch, cheerleaders Taylor Hardman, Dominique Jackson, Kathryn Medeiros and Kaitlyn Stokes. There were six members of the football team playing their last home game at Nicholson Stadium. They were Josh Carter, Nick DaLonzo, Vance Thomas, Jeff McMahon, Jake Reed and Jeremy Drysdale.

Congratulations and good luck to all the seniors. You were outstanding representing the Orange & Black and Wellsville is proud of each one of you.

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Halloween In The Ville

In spite of the chilly temperatures and a light sprinkle they came in gobs. There were trick-or-treaters in all shapes and sizes. Some were scary and some were cuties. We concentrated on the heart grabbers...

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Wellsville Voters Will Decide Mayor & Council Races Next Tuesday

In just six days Wellsville voters get their chance to voice their opinions at the polls. The November General Election is next Tuesday, November 8. It's the voters chance to decide who will run our Village.

Wellsville voters will be selecting a new mayor to replace Joe Surace. Surace completes his second term at the end of the year and has decided not to run for a third term. There are four candidates on the ballot running for the Mayor's Office. They are Susan Haugh, Nancy Murray, Jack Cataldo and Joe Soldano Jr. Haugh and Soldano are currently serving as members of Council. Murray is a political new comer and Cataldo has previous Council experience.

There are four seats on Village Council the voters will be considering on who should represent their voice in Village government. Political newcomers John Morrow and Tonda Ross are two new names on this year's ballot. Former Council members Diane Dinch and Don Brown are also candidates for one of those four seats. Incumbents John McMahon, Randy Allmon and Tony Cataldo filed for re-election.

There are three members for the Wellsville Board of Education who's term will expire December 31 and three unopposed candidates on the ballot. They are Karen Dash, Mike Cook and Ed Bauer.

There are three state issues on the Wellsville ballot and one Village issue on proposed electrical aggregation. One of the state issues is whether to approve the controversial Ohio Senate Bill 5 commonly called the “union busting issue”. Wellsville voters have a say in whether to approve that bill by voting on Issue 2.

We've decided not to endorse any particular candidate or issue leaving that decision up to the voters. All the candidates are registered voters and we're happy with that.

The deadline to register for voting has passed. However if you're unsure you're registered or where to go vote check the CC Board of Election web site. All that information is on their easy to navigate web sit plus you can pull up a sample ballot for your precinct. You can start at www.columbianacounty.org. The polls open at 6:30 AM next Tuesday and remain open until 7:30 PM.

Shown above are pictures of Wellsville candidates that appeared at the 'Meet The Candidates' evening last Wednesday. It was sponsored by a group of concerned Wellsville citizens. The candidates for mayor were also invited to the monthly Chamber luncheon last Thursday.

Your vote is important no matter who you vote for. It's one way to have a definite voice in how your government is run.

See you at the polls...

ole nib

Reservations Being Taken For Annual Wellsville Football Banquet

You're invited to the 2011 WHS Tiger's Football Banquet in honor of the first play-off bound team in Wellsville in 10 years. See all the details above. The banquet is sponsored by the Wellsville Touchdown Club.

It's only $10 a person. Make your reservations today by calling Chris or Rodger.

ole nib