COUNCIL — Members of Mingo Junction Village Council and the mayor listened to a person in the audience during council’s regular meeting Tuesday. -- Christopher Dacanay

MINGO JUNCTION — Possible solutions for the problematic Battle Run Road were touched on during Mingo Junction Village Council’s regular meeting Tuesday.

Divided in half between the village and Steubenville Township, Battle Run Road has always been a “rough road” that suffers from ruts and effects from weather, according to Village Administrator Darrin Corrigan. The road’s condition has suffered further from a slip event that, although not an imminent threat, has left residents questioning what can be done.

Corrigan said the road has been an issue for “a long time” and has even been blocked off by the village at one point. The road presently has two spots that have broken off and pose a risk to drivers.

“We do have to look about what we want to do with that — God forbid if someone goes down there and gets hurt,” Corrigan said.

Mayor Judy Ruckman said she’s been approached by residents on the road, and she’s researched the legality of vacating it altogether. That isn’t feasible, she said, given that emergency service response times may be hindered.

“I’m running down that rabbit hole … so we can see what we can do with that,” Ruckman said of the issue. “There is (Federal Emergency Management Agency) money out there, there are some different things, but everybody’s going after all these grants. They’re real competitive, so we’ve just got to try to keep up and keep plugging.”

Previously, Steubenville Township was able to acquire around $300,000 in FEMA funds to fix its end of the road, Corrigan said. With no concurrent action from the village, that work left a stark discrepancy between the village’s side and the township’s side. He added that it’s “probably too late” to approach FEMA now, given the long turnaround for funding to arrive.

“That is a thing we need to keep an eye on,” Corrigan said.

Council member Mark Baker questioned whether the village owns the hillside area near the slip. If so, he said, the village could dig around it and widen the road.

Separately, Ruckman reported on several village initiatives currently in the pipeline.

“We’re going after a lot,” she remarked.

The mayor said Siegel Excavating LLC has been awarded the bid to demolish three Commercial Street buildings through the Jefferson County Land Bank. The project’s cost is $183,600, and the village is responsible for paying 25 percent, or $45,900.

Also, Ruckman said she attended a free workshop in Athens through the Mayor’s Partnership for Progress that offered a template for updating the village’s employee handbook, which was last updated in 1997. Using the template, the village can update its handbook according to current laws, with council reviewing and approving any changes.

Ruckman reported that she and Corrigan have been supplying information to a grant funding specialist from Verdantas who will apply for as much funding as possible to help complete the village’s Environmental Protection Agency-mandated storm/sewer separation project.

Emergency funding is being pursued for one of the Commercial Street buildings destroyed in the Feb. 27 overnight fire, Ruckman said. The building’s owner has no back taxes on the structure and would be willing to turn it over if the village can find a way to pay for its demolition.

A “team effort” from village officials and the Ohio Mid-Eastern Governments Association is helping address the Farmers Lane waterline extension project, Ruckman said.

In other business:

• Village Clerk Jay Fabian scheduled a finance meeting with council for 5:30 p.m. Thursday in the council chambers.

• Council member Jodilynn Fitzgerald said last Thursday’s finance meeting saw council and Deputy Clerk Kim Crugnale review the fire and police departments’ proposed budget numbers.

• Tuesday was the last day for individuals to remove Christmas decorations from graves in the village cemetery, council member Jack Brettell said. Individuals should remove those decorations as soon as possible or else they will be discarded throughout this week. At the urging of village resident Domenic Chappano, Brettell also advised cemetery plot owners to maintain grass around their property, given the village does not have full-time staff dedicated to the cemetery’s upkeep.

• Ruckman thanked Interim Fire Chief Austin Raymond for being awarded a State Fire Marshal training grant worth $8,100 for the department.

• Corrigan said hot mix is not yet available for the village to use, so crews have been working with their store of cold patch to fill potholes. Rain has been hurting those efforts, he said, as well as cars driving above the speed limit and forcing the material out. He also said crews have been cleaning out storm drains, after some have backed up and caused flooding.

• A round of applause for the Mingo Junction Fire Department came after Ruckman thanked the department for its response to the Feb. 27 fire. She said the department “saved our downtown by maintaining and keeping that (fire) in check.”

• Council member Adam Peeler said he’s “really happy” that the Parkview Inn was able to reopen following the Feb. 27 fire and said he hopes all the “necessary permits and everything” have been obtained to prevent any trouble.

• Brettell reported there were around 75 kids playing Tuesday at the Aracoma Park, including its playground, which he said will soon be pressure washed by Houston Sexton of local business S&S Softwash. Chappano said that the village ought to consider reimbursing Sexton for his volunteer work at the playground and Feb. 27 fire scene.