STEUBENVILLE — The Jefferson County Commissioners said Thursday they’re hoping the village of Yorkville finds the solution to its policing problem.

The village’s chief of police, John Morelli, left in January, reportedly after clashes with the former administration regarding accumulated vacation, comp time and sick time, as well as disagreements about insurance and pay increases for officers.

Other agencies have stepped in to fill the void while village officials figure out a long-term fix. Yorkville’s mayor previously said they are reviewing proposals ranging in price from $125,000 to $190,000 a year from Tiltonsville and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department, and from Martins Ferry and Bridgeport in Belmont County.

“They’re having some issues, looking to get some help in that area with other locations,” Commissioner Eric Timmons said, pointing out a handful of departments in Jefferson and Belmont counties are interest in filling the void.

Village officials are said to be in discussions with several departments, two of them in Jefferson County and two others in Belmont.

Timmons said his preference, as always when taxpayer money is involved, would be to “keep it in Jefferson County.”

“Speaking for myself, I think that money should stay in Jefferson County, that’s my big thing,” he said. “Either Tiltonsville or our sheriff’s department can handle it, it doesn’t matter to me. But I just want to see tax money that’s (generated) in Jefferson County stay in Jefferson County. And not only that, it’s a life-and-death issue — Yorkville is five minutes from Tiltonsville, nine minutes from Martins Ferry and 11 minutes from Bridgeport. You know if it’s me and I’m lying there waiting for help, I’d want to make sure they’re there as soon as possible — but that’s just my opinion.”

Commissioner Tony Morelli agreed it “would be nice if it was with a Jefferson County entity, we always want the money to stay in Jefferson County.”

“But I don’t think we have any (power) to tell the village ‘hey, you have to contract with (anyone),” he said, later pointing out, “I don’t know what we can do.”

Commissioner Dave Maple said he’d like to learn more about it.

“I understand the village has been wrestling with those issues for some time now,” he said. “Obviously they have to figure out the best way to serve their citizens. But if there’s a good option to leave those monies in Jefferson County, I’m sure it’s worth looking at.”

Commissioners also:

• Were told the county has a good shot of securing Appalachian Regional Commission grant money to expand broadband in northern Jefferson County.

Unlike last year when they faced stiff competition for ARC funding and lost out, Commissioner Morelli said it’s possible theirs would be the only application this year “and it looks like we’d have a pretty good shot of securing a grant.”

“Basically we’re reapplying,” he said.

• Signed off on a new, three-year contract with Communications Workers of America for the Jefferson County Recorder’s office.

Commissioners noted recorder employees’ last contract was “pretty sonservative” in terms of pay raises and benefits. To get them in line, union workers in the recorder’s office will get a 5 percent pay raise in year one of the new contract, 4 percent in the second year and 3 percent in Year 3.

• Approved a Jobs and Family Services request for a contractor, Horizon, to update wiring in the McCollough Children’s Home. The update is required “before the state of Ohio will install updated servers,” Director Michele Santin told commissioners.

The state contracted with Charter/Time Warner for the update and they, in turn, have tasked Horizon with upgrading the wiring, she said. Horizon pressed them to just let them in to do the work but Santin said they believed only commissioners had authority to grant access, adding the prosecutor’s office concurred.

Maple said they’ve run into problems in the past with department heads making those kinds of decisions on their own.

“I believe all those contracts should come (here) for approval,” he said.

• Congratulated Timmons for the inaugural State of the County program on Tuesday. Timmons, in turn, thanked Commissioners Morelli and Maple for their roles, as well as the other speakers who took part.

“I thought it went very well,” he said. “We had a lot more people than I thought would be there.”

• Were told 2,593 fewer Jefferson County residents are on the Medicaid since a COVID-era ban on removing people from its rolls was lifted 10 months ago.