Safety takes center stage at Mingo Junction Council session

MINGO JUNCTION -- Mingo Junction Village Council's safety committee met before council's regular meeting Tuesday and addressed several topics, including continued requests for speed bumps and inactive streetlights.

"I want to try to avoid speed bumps unless we absolutely have to," said Councilwoman Jodilynn Fitzgerald regarding a request for speed bumps on West Boulevard to combat at least one alleged "habitual speeder."

Fitzgerald said she is familiar with one of the alleged speeders and had considered contacting them directly. She also encouraged Police Chief Willie McKenzie III to have more presence in the area to dissuade speeders or look out for violations.

Council's safety committee agreed to contact the Indian Creek Local School District Board of Education about possible modifications to a curb near Montgomery Lane where wide-turning buses could cause an accident.

The committee also asked McKenzie to contact Chris and Dave's Townhouse Bar and Grill to inform them that customers cannot drive over sidewalk curbs to park on a gravel-paved lot, regardless if the business has given permission because driving over curbs violates a village ordinance.

Additionally, the committee discussed the need for a tree on village property posing a scraping threat to vehicles to be trimmed, and it discussed rumors that American Electric Power had temporarily closed Logan Avenue.

Kyle Moffat, Mingo Junction Wastewater Department chief operator, expressed to the safety committee the need for specific training for village employees, specifically regarding training that helps employees to recognize dangerous situations and reminds them they have a right to not go into them.

Fire Chief Brandon Montgomery said every municipal building is equipped with an AED, but they have aged to the point that their batteries are likely depleted, and their pads are expired. The replacements are expensive, Montgomery said, but they are needed to save lives.

Village resident Harry Constantini expressed dissatisfaction to the committee because five street lights on McLister Avenue, which he personally marked with red flags, remain non-operational. Committee members agreed to try to locate a master list of street lights that indicates which ones were purposefully deactivated or need replacement.

Separately, Montgomery requested council's long-standing EMS board be renamed or dissolved, being replaced by a fire board that handles intricate details of the department's operations not adequately addressed during a typical council meeting.

"My five-to-10 minutes here doesn't really cut into the nooks and crannies of what we do," Montgomery said, adding that a board's additional meetings would keep people informed about critical decision-making going on.

The board would meet once a month in a public meeting to discuss topics like training and strategic planning, and its members would be composed of the entire council or part of council, Montgomery said.

Montgomery also said in his report that one of the village fire and EMS department's ambulances suffered a blown turbo. The 4- or 5-year-old ambulance was on the way to the hospital when the blow occurred, but the Steubenville Fire Department was able to have the patient transported. Everything was covered in the ambulance's warranty.

Also, the department received two donations, one for $500 from the family of the late James "Jags" Huggins, village auditor, who Montgomery said was "passionate" about EMS. The second donation, from RSV Trucking Inc., was for $250, and both donations will be used for fire and EMS education purposes. Montgomery said department employees attending an upcoming Ohio Fire Chiefs Association conference will take a photo together, and the photo will be placed on a plaque with Huggins' name and then be hung in the municipal building.

In other business:

• Council did its first read of Ordinance 2023-16, which granted consent to the director of the Ohio Department of Transportation to "apply, maintain and repair standard longitudinal pavement markings, erect regulatory and warning signs" on state Route 7 within the village's corporate limits and granted consent for ODOT to do snow removal and maintenance on the highway.

• The water and sewer committee met before the regular meeting and spoke on the phone with a representative of Muni-Link, the Mingo Junction Water Department's new billing system. George Stoddart, chief operator at the water department, said further training was planned for the village's water department employees, during which Muni-Link representatives "will be assisting us with getting our financial statements up to form to be understood by all." The department's former system was through Government Accounting Solutions.

• Fitzgerald gave council an update on a study done by a company hired by the Ohio Mid-Eastern Governments Association. The study looked at the village's commercial corridor, traffic and infrastructure and offered economic recommendations for the village.

• McKenzie said all junk vehicles have been removed from the road, and he thanked the unknown individual who bought extra gift cards for the department's back-to-school giveaway, which he said was a success.

• Fitzgerald read a letter of thanks from the Women in Action Against Cancer Coalition, delivered to council following the organization's community yard sale. The letter said the sale "brought in much-needed funds for this nonprofit organization."

• Village Administrator Bob Smith requested an executive session regarding personnel and employment, which council entered following public participation's conclusion. Also, Smith spoke about the need for maintenance on the village's veterans banners, which he said are starting to break off and fly around.

• Brettell said, on behalf of the cemetery, parks and recreation committee, that the Mingo Junction Pool is planned to close on Friday.

• A resident asked council when it will begin enforcing the village's zoning laws, referencing "light industrial" activity by a contractor for the Route 7 rockfall remediation project that he said violates the property's residential zoning. Questioning ensued over whether council's zoning board is fully formed. Also, the resident said a 10,000-gallon diesel fuel tank on the property "has no business being 60 feet from a house," and debate ensued over the combustibility of diesel fuel. The resident expressed frustration over council allegedly doing nothing to stop the contractor's activity and said Montgomery is the only individual who has offered him help. Montgomery said the fuel tank in question is fire code compliant but not necessarily so in regard to zoning. Additionally, the resident claimed trucks for the project have used Logan Avenue, which is not an approved project right-of-way.

• Drew Karas, water department employee, expressed frustration over his grievance with an administrator that he said has not been resolved.

• Constantini said a resident has been charged more than he should for his water bill, in spite of using a deduct meter, which is used to deduct the amount of water tracked by a regular meter if the water is not discharged into a sanitary sewer system.

Fitzgerald acted as president pro tempore in the absence of Mayor Ed Fithen. Councilwoman Pat Cramblett was absent and excused from the meeting.