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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