Trending
WELLSVILLE -- The village fire chief remains steadfast in the closure of a section of Main Street following the collapse of a building.
Fire Chief Barry Podwel Tuesday addressed discussion at the previous council meeting regarding council being able to overrule his decision to keep the 400 block of Main Street closed due to safety reasons following the collapse of the 5&10 building.
Podwel again said the road remains closed until the building comes down. He also reminded council that he said several meetings ago that if council wants to sign off and take the responsibility away from him, then council members can do whatever they want. But as long as he has any say on it, the barricades will not be moved.
Podwel thanked Village Administrator Jerry Medley and Mayor Bob Boley for backing him and his decision at the last meeting when he was absent.
Podwel also asked if council was any closer to making a decision about sending village dispatch to the county 911. He noted it has been almost a year since his initial request and the price has increased since then.
There was no response from the council members.
Boley asked Podwel about the siren they had discussed purchasing for the fire station.
Podwel said he brought it up to council, but no one gave him the okay to do so, so he hasn't done anything more with. He noted he has a quote for it from Hudson Communications, but he doesn't have an okay to purchase it.
The siren would be dual purpose for the fire department and as a weather/hazard warning for the village.
Podwel also asked if the cost of nearly $27,000 could be split between the fire department and the village.
Fiscal Officer Hoi Wah Yu said she would need the breakdown of the costs and at least one or two other quotes to compare prices and then she could look into the funds.
In other business, police Lt. Marsha Eisenhart told council the police department is losing a full-time officer who is resigning to go to the Columbiana County Sheriff's Office and there is the possibility another full-time officer could be off for three months due to medical reasons.
Eisenhart also said that Wellsville officers caught two people stealing the AT&T wire valued at $35,000.
Additionally, Medley said he has cleaned as many sewers, mowed as much grass and patched as many streets as he could, but that he is continuing to lose workers. There are days when he could have two or four workers including himself, but they still try to do what they can do for the village. He said he spent several hours at Hammond Park on a tractor mowing the grass, and he is doing the best he can do.
Wah said the village had received the 2027 funding agreement for the marina grant which she is going to forward to Village Solicitor Christopher Weeda to review before it is finalized and signed. Wah also said the village is continuing to search for funding to hopefully resolve the issue with the 5&10 building.
Wah said the village has reconciled at $1.8 million as of the end of July, but the General Fund is at $468,000 and it has been kept above $500,000 for the last 10 years since the village came out of fiscal emergency, which is causing a little concern, but she hopes when the village gets the real estate settlement the fund will come back up and they don't have any other accountable expenses.
Wah noted that there had been several unanticipated expenses such as the $36,000 paid to Kerr Construction for the equipment brought in when the 5&10 building collapsed and that the village was not going to go into deficit and that are not near that, but they need to be careful about spending.
Boley asked Weeda if he was about to find out anything about the cars in the village not being moved. Weeda said they can't chalk the tires and that they would just about have to take pictures and document it to see if the vehicle has been moved at all and that was iffy territory as well.
Payment of bills totaling $740.11 and the minutes from the Aug. 4 meeting were approved.
There was no legislation for approval and no old or new business to discuss.
The Wellsville Village Council meets the first and third Tuesdays of each month at 6 p.m. in council chambers at Wellsville Village Hall, 1200 Main St. The next regular meeting is scheduled for Sept. 1.