WELLSVILLE – Village council is continuing to work with the Buckeye Water District to repair roadways damaged during projects.

At its previous meeting in April, council requested village solicitor Chris Weeda to draft an ordinance requiring the Buckeye Water District (BWD) to repair any roads damaged during work within 14 days of completion. If the road is not repaired within the 14 days, the district would be fined $500 a day for up to 14 days. After the the second 14 days the village could contract someone to complete the repairs and hold the district accountable for the cost.

At Tuesday’s council meeting, Keith Thorn, council president and chair of the Claims, Rules and Ordinance Committee, said that Al DeAngelis, BWD district manager, disagreed with the ordinance council was considering for giving them a time period on repairing the roads and requested a meeting regarding the matter.

Thorn said DeAngelis is not happy with the time period they want in the ordinance and that there may sometimes be circumstances where it is not possible to repair the road in that time frame.

Thorn said he talked with Weeda who advised him to consider putting a clause in the ordinance where if there is a problem with fixing the road within that time period, the BWD could request a variance for it. Council was in agreement with that and suggested the variance be required to be approved by the village administrator, and keep the time frame the same.

Council voted to have that clause included in the ordinance being drafted.

In other business, Councilman Aaron Smith asked Mayor Bob Boley if there was any movement in hiring utility workers for the village, and Boley said there were a few applicants, and he talked to one person.

Boley said that Kerr Construction and the equipment company from Youngstown were planning to sue the village for the equipment that was brought in for the building collapse. Weeda advised that the invoice would need to be paid but has questions about the amount of the invoice and said he would reach out to Kerr Construction to discuss it. There were some questions about the same equipment being kept in the village for the land bank to use to demolish some buildings.

Boley also said the village paid $3,800 for a structural engineer to investigate the Five and 10 store and was told they would have the report within a couple of days but still have not yet received it. The village was told the building has collapsed four times in a month and the road needs to remain closed. Boley said he will be calling to find out where the report is.

Council members voted to pay the outstanding bill from Diamondback for the dumpsters that were brought in to remove the rubbish and debris from the demolition of the Gigi Ganko project.

During the public speaking portion of the meeting Tony Sharma told council that he was planning to build a power plant and data center in Yellow Creek Township and just wanted to let the village know of his plans. There is a town hall meeting tentatively planned for the public on May 28 at 6 p.m. at the Highlandtown Fire Department. A public meeting notice will be issued if the meeting is confirmed.

Bills totaling 12,151.79 were approved for payment.

Meeting minutes from the April 21 council meeting were approved as presented.

There were no ordinances or resolutions to be approved.

The Village Clean Up Day will take place on May 16, and anyone interested in participating should meet at the gazebo at 9 a.m.

The Community Block Party will be held on June 12 from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Elks Lodge on Riverside Drive.

The Wellsville Village Council meets the first and third Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. in council chambers at Wellsville Village Hall, 1200 Main St. The next regular meeting is scheduled for May 19.

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