RETURNING — Terry Bell, second from left, stood with fellow members of the Jefferson County Board of Health and the health commissioner of the Jefferson County General Health District after his re-election to the health board by the District Advisory Council Thursday. From left are board Vice President Suzanne Brown, Bell, Health Commissioner Andrew Henry and board President Anthony Mougianis. -- Christopher Dacanay

STEUBENVILLE — Former Salem Township Trustee Terry Bell will serve his second five-year term on the Jefferson County Board of Health, after being elected back to the position by the District Advisory Council Thursday.

“I’m very grateful that the citizens of the villages and the townships voted me back in as a member with a five-year term on the health board,” Bell said after the election. “I deeply feel that I have more to give, and there’s more work to be done.”

Of the 26 voting constituents present, 16 voted for Bell, while nine voted for the Rev. Nate Freeman, pastor of First Christian Church in Steubenville, and a single vote was cast for Tasha Lipps, executive director of SouthernCare Hospice in Wintersville.

This was the second attempt at making a selection for the board seat after two, separate tied elections by the DAC, which is comprised of the president of the county commissioners, the mayor of each city and village and the chairperson of each township’s board of trustees.

The 26 council constituents represented Thursday, out of a total of 33, included the Jefferson County commissioners; the cities of Steubenville and Toronto; the villages of Amsterdam, Bergholz, Empire, Irondale, Mingo Junction, Rayland, Richmond, Stratton, Wintersville and Yorkville; and the townships of Brush Creek, Cross Creek, Island Creek, Knox, Mount Pleasant, Ross, Salem, Saline, Springfield, Steubenville, Warren, Wayne and Wells.

Thursday saw the DAC’s second quorum in 27 years, with the first being the Friday before. The 20 constituents present last Friday failed to elect a candidate, with Bell and Freeman tying twice, resulting in the vote being tabled until it could meet again the next week.

Resuming where it left, the DAC was presented Thursday with the seven total candidates for the seat: Bell; Freeman; Lipps; Aaron Dickey, a clinical program management adviser for Evernorth Behavioral Health Inc.; the Rev. Buena Smith Dudley, pastor of Quinn Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Church; Shannon Monroe, a doctoral candidate at New York University’s Institute for the Study of the Ancient World; and Vanessa Palmer, founder of the Diversity Health Initiative.

After nominating all seven candidates to be vote-eligible in the election, the DAC heard brief presentations from Bell and Freeman, the only two candidates in attendance at the meeting. Council members then cast their votes, granting Bell the seat through his seven-point lead.

Bell himself was born and raised in Steubenville. Married in 1970, Bell and his wife, Andrea, moved to a property near Jefferson Lake State Park, where they raised a family and cattle.

He ran for and was elected to a trustee seat in Salem Township, a position he held for nearly 12 years. From that position, Bell focused on abating litter along township roads, which he said represents “a total disregard for the environment we all want to live in.”

Committed to the environment during his whole life, Bell said he has regularly dealt with environmental issues as chairman of the health board’s environmental committee. He added that the Jefferson County General Health District is “fortunate” to have environmental staff that do an “exemplary job.”

Bell has also been a board member for the Jefferson County Township Association, for which he served in various officer roles and on its executive committee; Jefferson County Oil and Gas Commission; Jefferson County Regional Planning Commission; Jefferson-Belmont Solid Waste Authority; and Ohio Township Association, for which he served on its nominating committee.

With the Jefferson County engineer and prosecutor, Bell was instrumental in developing the Road Use Maintenance Agreement, through which private energy companies pledge to repair county and township roads they utilize for operations. A signed RUMA is required to receive a drilling permit from the Ohio Department of Transportation, Bell said.

While presenting to the DAC Thursday, Bell warned township trustees from the north of the county to be way or a new drilling company based in Morgantown, W.Va., that is making its way through Columbiana and Carroll counties. He noted that the company recognizes the RUMA and will sign it.

Bell followed that by asking for council members’ votes, so that he may continue his efforts from the past five years.

“My parents taught me, when I was a very young child, … ‘Whatever you do in life, be committed to do it to the fullest, and always do it with kindness,” Bell said, adding later: “You trustees, who’ve known me for a long time, you know how I commit myself. I go whole hog.”

Separately, Health Commissioner Andrew Henry updated the DAC on the health department’s accreditation status through the Public Health Accreditation Board.

Health departments in Ohio have been required to seek PHAB accreditation since 2012, Henry said, and the health department has been pursuing that status. Most health departments around the state have become accredited, while 25 percent remain in the process, including Jefferson.

However, Henry said, Jefferson County’s application with the PHAB has been submitted, and the department has until February to turn in all necessary documents. Once those have been submitted, the department will have a site review and then be told its status.

“In case anyone was wondering what the holdup was, obviously, I can only speak to what has happened since 2021,” Henry said. “It took us a while to get up to speed. We had to get our community health assessment done and our community health improvement plan before we could apply. So, in my time, we’ve been working on that the last few years, and now we’ve submitted our application.”