COUNCIL — The Mingo Junction Village Council met Tuesday in regular session, during which members heard about newly purchased Christmas lights for the village’s downtown. -- Christopher Dacanay

MINGO JUNCTION — Christmas is coming early for Mingo Junction, with a set of new holiday lights having been ordered for downtown light poles, the mayor said during Tuesday’s Village Council meeting.

Mayor Judy Ruckman said the village will receive 10 blue and white and 10 white light fixtures, both depicting snowflakes though differing in design. The fixtures will be posted on Commercial Street light poles, alternating designs as they go.

Costs came to $8,888, not including shipping, Ruckman said, adding that the fixtures were on sale “believe it or not.” Ruckman added that she is looking for grant funds to purchase more for next year.

From the audience, Jeffrey Schuetz, owner of Schuetz Funeral Home, offered and was given permission to purchase 10 more lights on behalf of the village.

Separately, Ruckman said she has been speaking with Solicitor Craig Allen about ways to address the village’s $263,000 in delinquent real property taxes owed to the state.

A list of parcels contained certain properties that have already been paid for and some that are tax exempt, Ruckman said, adding that there is a process for how to handle the remaining properties. Ruckman said she is in contact with Mike Paprocki, director of the Brooke-Hancock-Jefferson Metropolitan Planning Commission, for further advice, and she will have a clearer update at the next council meeting on April 23.

Also, village Administrator Darrin Corrigan reported:

• Two “Slow — Kids at Play” signs were posted on Valuska Drive, after the service department received complaints from residents about drivers.

• The service department has been cleaning up the marina with help from the Mingo Junction Fire Department.

• A new fire hydrant has been installed on Broadway Street with “good pressure,” following a previous concern from a resident about water pressure.

• The village has taken in between $80,000 and $85,000 in water delinquency back-payments since beginning a crackdown in January. He said water department employees stick to a schedule of issuing notices on Mondays and Tuesdays before shutting off water on Wednesdays and Thursdays, if the person does not pay or make an arrangement with the village.

• Concrete work at the pool should be complete by April 21, weather permitting.

• The wastewater treatment facility had issues with flooding the night of April 2, resulting in the plant going on bypass until Saturday morning. Separately, an aeration blower experienced burnout, necessitating the purchase of a new machine, quoted at $8,188. The facility has two blowers, which switch off in a six-month cycle.

• A tree on Logan Street is “too much” for service department employees to cut down, so the village will have to wait until K&K Tree Service’s Kenny Kourim is available to do the job. Following that discussion, Corrigan and council members mentioned ways Kourim has been generous to the village in assisting with other projects.

In other business:

• Councilwoman Jodilynn Fitzgerald advised that properties near South Commercial Street and state Route 151 are on a 48-hour boil order that began Tuesday afternoon.

• Council approved scheduling the village’s 2024 trick-or-treat for Oct. 26, in order for it to be coordinated with Schuetz’s Halloween bash later in the evening.

• Council gave the first reading of Ordinance 2024-6, legislation “amending the (village’s) table of organization … by adding positions in the service department identified as C8 and C9, … (and) repealing Ordinance 2023-11 and all prior inconsistent legislation.” The positions are for a part time mechanic and part-time custodian.

• Council entered executive session for police contract negotiations.

• Police Chief Willie McKenzie III reported that the police department has received 500 calls to date in 2024. The department has also received multiple regarding traffic stops at the Ohio Department of Transportation’s state Route 7 bridge rehabilitation site over Logan Avenue. Traffic stops are mandated to be three minutes but, to some, seem like “an eternity.”