LISBON — Lisbon Mayor Peter Wilson cast an affirmative vote to break a 3-3 council tie on a motion to proceed with the necessary steps for the village to sell the rock climbing cliffs to Western Reserve Land Conservatory (WRLC) and by proxy to the Columbiana County Park District.

Tuesday’s action gave village solicitor Alec Beech permission to draft a resolution that would allow the county land bank to act as an agent on behalf of the village to facilitate the future sale. The steps are needed if the village plans to sell the property without going through the bid process.

WRLC made a formal offer of $9,500 per acre at the last council meeting. With 41 acres being eyed by the Park District, the sale would fetch roughly $390,000.

Before the vote was cast, Beech explained the steps needed.

“The first question is if you want to entertain selling it and you would have to do that by motion. And the second question is how you want to sell it and you have two options,” Beech said. “You can put it out to bid or try to work with the landbank and landbank has communicated that they would be willing to work with us on that, but those two things would require legislation first. So the first step, in my opinion, is if you want to sell it and the step is how you want to sell it.”

What to do with the property has been a point of contention in recent council meetings and a discussion that has lagged on. Donnalley forced council’s hand by presenting a motion that affirms “the village wants to sell the property and to start the process to do so.” Donnalley said the time for talk was over.

“I would like for council to decide on this tonight because it has been years that we have been talking about so we have had plenty of time to think about it and plenty of time to ask questions,” Donnalley said. “I would just like to see it done.”

Councilwoman Melissa Hiner reminded the council that the sale doesn’t mean the village will pocket close to $400,000.

“After the 10 percent to Western Reserve we’re looking at $354,021 and then we have survey fees, the cost of any document preparation filing of it, cost associated with the sale, any type of taxes, any maintenance of the property, we would have to pay for all of that,” she said.

Wilson joined council members Donnalley, Sue Temple and Zach Smith in advancing the sale, while Tom Darcy, Jerry Cox and Hiner voted against the motion.

The offer by WRLC allows the group two years to secure funding to purchase the climbing climbs. If the village owns the mineral rights those will likely transfer with the sale, but with restrictions like no surface impacts to the property due to the grant funding.

The areas being pursued by the Western Reserve Conservancy are along the Little Beaver Creek Greenway Trail next to the Kerestes property.

In May, the Kerestes property (nearly 30 acres of property that included the main cliffs at Logtown) was purchased by the Columbiana County Park District through the Western Reserve Land Conservancy for $300,000 to develop the area into a rock-climbing destination. But it turned out the Kerestes property did not include the popular climbing cliffs area. The village of Lisbon owns the cliff face while the park district owns the top part –not the actual cliff where climbers climb. To complete the park district’s vision, the Lisbon property is needed.

In another key item of action, council approved the hiring of an independent pool expert at a cost up to $700 in an effort to isolate a leak at the Sadie Van Fossen pool. Until the leak is located, council’s proverbial hands are tied when it comes to seeking funding to help offset the costs to repair the pool and replace its filtration system.

The village has been dealing with the leak for several seasons but it was filtration problems that ultimately forced the pool to close earlier than anticipated this year. The leak, which is believed to be somewhere on the eastern wall, has led to a loss of thousands of gallons of water a day.

Costs could be as high as $200,000 to make the necessary repairs and replacements. Funding opportunities – a grant through the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and a request through the state Capital Expenditures Budget – are available but the pool will likely not open next season, as those funds, if awarded to Lisbon, would not be dispersed until 2026. The only option to open the pool 2026 is for the village to pay for the repair and filter replacement out of pocket.

Also at the meeting, Peter Patel addressed council with a request for a curb cut in front of property purchased by Paten at 126 W. Lincoln Way (the former Lincoln Social Hall located next to Republican Headquarters). Patel said the curb cut is necessary for vehicles to service a planned drive-through window on the property he intends to convert to a convenience store.

His initial plans were rejected by council on the grounds that vehicles traveling westbound on Lincoln Way turning left into the drive-through would hold up traffic. Council asked that he resubmit plans that would allow entrance to the window from the eastbound lane, requiring a right turn.

Council also took a step toward implementing the new zoning code, that has been years in the rewriting process, by holding first readings of an ordinances that repeal the old code and adopt the new.

Council also approved on the first reading of the 2026 Annual Appropriations.

Also at the meeting:

— Council approved a resolution to allow the purchase of property ($300) for Pritchard Ave., agreed to pay for an updated cost estimate (up to $1,000) for a TAP grant for sidewalks along Lincole Place and agreed to pay an engineer (up to $500) to study possible remediation of bank erosion at Willow Grove Park in conjunction with Columbiana County Soil and Water District.

— Wilson reported that the village received a $25,000 Urban Forestry Grant.

— Council approved the hiring of Zach Mayer as administrative assistant/zoning clerk.

— Council heard that the Active Transportation Plan (TAP), needed to help obtain grants for sidewalks and streets was accepted.

— Wilson reported 10 signs listing downtown businesses and depicting a map of downtown are ready to be installed

— Council accepted the resignation of Steve Boyd from the police department.

— Council transferred $75,000 from the general fund to the street department fund.