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MINGO JUNCTION -- The Village of Mingo Junction's solicitor said Tuesday he's "kind of anxious" about a bill the village received from the state of Ohio asking for $263,000 in delinquent real property taxes.
Craig Allen told Village Council that 37 parcels owned by the village -- most, he predicts, are vacant lots -- have been accruing property taxes and interest over the years, with some parcels having apparently been delinquent since the 1970s. Bills have seemingly been piling up over the years since notice letters have not been reaching their proper destination.
"Those bills were sent somewhere," Allen said, "but within the last 50 years, I don't think they ever got to the people they were supposed to get to."
Mingo Junction is among other villages that have been hit with such property tax bills, Allen said, adding that the state has seemingly been increasing pressure to receive payments.
Allen said he will work with the Jefferson County auditor and treasurer to see about possible solutions, including at least partial amnesty.
Separately, council members Jodilynn Fitzgerald and Mark Baker said the village's veterans banner committee is not currently open to posting more banners.
When the committee advertised for the original banners, Baker said, many more submissions were received than anticipated, resulting in a second round of advertising being issued. That amounted to almost 300 banners, which were paid for by the individual veterans' families, to be posted in the village.
Posting them took "a lot of overtime and work from committee members," Fitzgerald said, noting that the process involved contacting American Electric Power to get permission for each pole a banner would be posted on, organizing individuals to post the banners using a boom truck and ongoing maintenance on the banners, which have a habit of falling down after strong winds.
Fitzgerald said that, since closing requests for a banner, the committee has received many more requests from individuals who missed the deadline, but the village needed to cut off the period at some point.
However, individuals are welcome to approach Mizer Printing and Graphics in Cadiz to create their own banner with the same template design, Fitzgerald said. They can then post the banner on their own property or approach AEP themselves with the listed number on the pole they'd like to post the banner on.
Also, representatives of the Mingo Junction Senior Center said they will begin offering hot meals to seniors at the center every weekday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., starting April 8.
Seniors will be able to sit down at the center, eat the meal and join in activities afterward. To request a meal, seniors must call the center at (740) 535-1639 the day before, no later than 3 p.m.
"We want to get this started so we can let the people know there is some place for them to go ... and sit there and talk, and they don't have to stay at home," said the center's Secretary Diane Pernick. "That's our goal, is to get them out of the house."
Councilwoman Pat Cramblett said the center will be investigating other options to help seniors who can't come to the center for meals.
In other business:
• Resolution 2024-5 recognized Myrna J. Anderson, who has served as a local nurse for 64 years. A 1957 Steubenville Catholic Central High school graduate, Anderson has worked as a nurse for the former St. John Hospital in Steubenville, the Carriage Inn of Steubenville Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, St. Agnes and Bishop John King Mussio Elementary schools and the Mingo Junction Health Department. She currently volunteers as a nurse, checking the vitals of individuals at the Mingo Junction Senior Center.
• Council gave the third reading to and adopted Ordinance 2024-2, which eliminates the village's planning commission and zoning commission and establishes the planning and zoning commission.
• Fitzgerald showed council video of traffic around the Hills Elementary School and Indian Creek Middle School zone during pickup time. Council members suggested the long lines of traffic are caused by parents allegedly driving individually to pick up their children, as opposed to letting them ride the bus, and disregarding traffic staggering suggestions.
• Village Administrator Darrin Corrigan reported that two part-time positions have been filled in the village's service department, which he said has been busy with tasks like removing all of the downtown parking meters.
Corrigan also reported that he is working to apply for a parks and recreation grant through the Jefferson County commissioners to bring security cameras to Aracoma Park; Friday's trash pickup will be done during a double route on Thursday instead, in observance of Good Friday, and concrete work at the village's swimming pool should be complete by Monday, after some previous setbacks.
• Mayor Judy Ruckman gave her blessing to the Indian Creek Youth Baseball League, which intends to tear down a concrete maintenance shed on the village's ballfields and construct a new, 24-by-40-foot building.
• Council denied village resident John Pesta's request to have the curb in front of his house cut back, citing worries that the change would have a negative impact on stormwater runoff. Pesta, who utilizes his fenced-in backyard as a driveway, said cutting the curb would grant him easier access between his car and home, as the backyard gate mechanism -- which can't be removed because he has a dog -- is cumbersome to operate, and he suffers from a disability that hinders his mobility.
• Council suggested to Dr. William Johns that he donate his former office at 203 McLister Ave. to the village for it to use. Johns said the office property's multiple parcels have a total $4,000 in property taxes owed.
• Council entered executive session for contract negotiations.