DISPUTE — Mingo Junction officials discussed the legality of a proposed ordinance to reinstate two terminated fire department employees, Tuesday. From left are, front, council members Jodilynn Fitzgerald and Patti Mannarino and, back, Mayor Judy Ruckman and Village Solicitor Craig Allen. -- Christopher Dacanay

MINGO JUNCTION — Village Council took no action on a proposed ordinance to reinstate two terminated fire department employees, after a greater-than-two-thirds affirming vote couldn’t be met based on attending council members.

During Tuesday’s meeting, an ordinance went before council “confirming village council’s approving the grievance filed by fire department-emergency medical service employees Rebecca Perry and Wesley Ostroff, directing that (the two) be reinstated to their prior positions as village employees.”

Introduced as emergency legislation, the ordinance could not be passed as such due to the excused absence of council members Adam Peeler and Jack Brettell. Incapable of obtaining more than four of the minimum five votes necessary, council stayed a vote or even a first reading.

Mayor Judy Ruckman terminated Perry and Ostroff July 8 based on a clause in the fire department’s collective bargaining agreement, after the two allegedly abandoned their duties. The two had a temporary protection order against Assistant Fire Chief Nick Moore at the time — shortly after they filed a hostile work environment complaint against him.

The two claim Ruckman’s termination was retaliation and filed a grievance that eventually reached village council, which elected to reinstate the two — though Ruckman has continually refused to allow it.

Ruckman questioned the ordinance, asking if codifying the two’s reinstatement is “even legal.” Village Solicitor Craig Allen, in turn, clarified that not all village ordinances end up codified.

Verbal arguments continued, amid which council member Mark Baker suggested that council refrain from action until it has received more information from the International Association of Fire Fighters, which represents Ostroff and Perry, and the Bureau of Criminal Investigations, which is investigating Fire Chief Brandon Montgomery for alleged sexual misconduct, in a separate issue.

Earlier in the meeting, council heard from Village Administrator Darrin Corrigan, who said the village is in dire need of penning a landlord water policy. A number of local landlords are “livid” and have directed numerous complaints to the village, stemming from its crackdown on water bill delinquencies.

As it stands, Corrigan said, if renters rack up water bills and fail to pay them before they die or move out, then the payment responsibly falls on their landlords. The village currently has “nothing in writing” to hold renters accountable for their bills, Corrigan said, and that’s hampering landlords from moving in new tenants until they pay.

Corrigan presented council with suggested wording for such a policy and noted he’s open to suggestions. Council resolved to organize a water and sewer committee meeting to address the issue.

Allen said a bill is the responsibility of the property owner, and it’s not the village’s responsibility to collect for a landlord who shouldn’t have let renters amass a large water bill to begin with. The village should mitigate such circumstances, if it can, but it’s ultimately the landlord’s responsibility to ensure renters pay their bills.

“When we do the rules together, we want to make them as objective as possible,” Allen said, adding, “We want to protect ourselves and have an objective policy about how you’re going to handle disputes.”

Council also heard from Stephen King, account manager for energy consulting company Tebel LLC, regarding renewal of the village’s electric and gas utility aggregation programs.

Both energy aggregation contracts — intended to yield cost savings for eligible village residents — are set to expire May 31, King told council. He also apologized for the apparent absence of a management agreement, which confirms Trebel as the exclusive consultant for putting aggregation into place for the community.

King said he’s like to get “pen to paper” on an management agreement — which should have existed since the village formalized its relationship with Trebel in 2017 — and proposed the village’s contract renewal options.

Trebel recommends a three-year program that would see a locked energy rate for the first year and a new fixed rate for residents each year afterward, King said. The village has the option for a one-year program, which allows it to wait and reassess its policy at the end. King said the latter option seemed more favorable in the village’s eyes, based on conversations with Corrigan.

King said he’d like to have paperwork ready by March so that, come May, the village can seamlessly transition into its new policy.

Eligible residents will receive two letters for the ew contracts, one for electric and the other for gas, King said. They have 21 days to initially opt out of the program, but they may opt out or back in any time during the program. Mingo Junction voters previously approved the opt-out program.

In other business:

• Ruckman reported that Wednesday will see a bid package meeting take place for the planner demolition for three Commercial Street buildings through the Jefferson County Land Bank. Bids are due by March 4, and the contract must be finalized within 60 days. The project must be concluded within 90 days, placing the building’s demolition at around August, at the latest.

• Asked about President Donald Trump’s pause on federal grants and loans for review and how that might affect village projects, Fitzgerald said, “I just read an article tonight about that, but I haven’t looked into it as far as it might affect (the village). I know there are a lot of people worried that it might affect not only villages, municipalities and people who are going after grants, but I haven’t had time to really look into it.”

• Corrigan reported that the service department has been plowing and salting roads when needed, aided by 400 total tons of salt ordered for the village; hung and took down flags for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and have been collecting rubbish this week. He also reported that water department crews have fixed water line breaks on Carlisle, McLister and Union avenues, as well as Commercial, Sycamore, Ohio and Frazer streets. The volume of some breaks has necessitated an outside contractor’s involvement on one occasion.