When Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which President Biden signed into law in March 2021, it sent $350 billion in state and local funding across the country. Over $375,000 of that money was allocated to West Liberty, Ohio.
Why the village didn’t receive half of that funding was an important topic of discussion at West Liberty Village Council’s regular meeting Monday, Oct. 24.
“We’re working with the legislature to return that money (through the Ohio Municipal League [OML]),” Mayor Jill McKelvey said. “The OML’s whole goal is to lobby on behalf of municipalities like ours.”
Logan County Auditor Jack Reser informed the council last year regarding the Ohio general assembly’s decision to change the rules and give half of the ARPA money to Liberty Township. According to McKelvey, townships manage to get a lot of funding due to their lobbying efforts and through the county, while villages like West Liberty are “at the mercy of the general assembly” and the money they receive from property and income taxes.
“All of our funding comes from state and when the state takes 2 percent, we have to make tough choices as to where to cut,” McKelvey said. “We need that 2 percent back.”
She added the state is sitting on about $2.7 billion in their rainy day fund, so the money is there.
The council also heard from Ryan Brauen, vice president with Wessler Engineering, regarding the aging sewer system and the need for more lift stations on the east side of town. Lift, or pump, stations move wastewater from a lower to a higher elevation using a collection system. “Sanitary and storm systems are not the same,” Brauen said. “Knowing what needs to be fixed makes a difference.”
Brauen recommended evaluating what they have and what they need, then taking whatever measures are necessary to prevent or reduce the risk for flooding like the town had in 2019. His goal is to do the evaluation as a whole now rather than phase it out over a period of time.
Unfortunately, the village probably won’t be able to afford all that needs to be done, which means determining priorities and going from there.
Next up, a list of proposals will be sent to the board of public affairs. Then Brauen will work with Brad Hudson to present their suggestion to the council. They’ll either go with money available for flood prevention plus water and sewer grants or look into zero-interest loans.
Other board action:
• West Liberty’s first Halloween Spooktacular will haunt the town’s downtown from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday night, Oct. 27. The evening fun will feature trick-or-treating, of course, plus costume contests, face painting and plenty of food, including free hot dogs, while supplies last.
• After months of discussions and debates, the council decided to not move forward at this time on creating an ordinance to allow livestock, specifically chickens, within the village limits.
• Clerk Cindee Boyd recently gave the supervisors their evaluations. “Let’s just say they were not too pleased,” McKelvey commented, “so I’ll follow-up after I meet with them.” The council still plans to hold the first reading of an ordinance related to Labor Day hours and pay for the street department in November.
A big part of the discussion centered around how many hours a day are covered in holiday pay. The conclusion seemed to be it’s not based on hours but per event.
“There’s precedent for that,” Councilwoman Jayne Griffith said.
• “But,” fellow Councilwoman Patricia Kauffman added, “we need a way to make it fair and equitable.”
McKelvey asked council members Trent Spriggs and Joanna Hostetler to look into other options before moving forward with the ordinance.
• The council plans to decorate for Christmas Sunday afternoon, Oct. 30, in preparation for the Christmas in the Village open house, which is slated for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 4 and 5. At the same time, they’ll exchange the downtown pink flags for American flags in honor of Veteran’s Day.
• Installation of a new splash pad surface began on Monday. The work proved the insufficiency of the previous surface, which was supposed to be half an inch but clearly wasn’t. Whether it deteriorated that much or was inferior from the beginning has yet to be determined.
In the meantime, the council asks that no one walk on the new surface until Friday. The splash pad used 1.7 million gallons of water this past summer as opposed to 2.2 million in 2021.
• Griffith plans to discuss more Columbus Street bridge fundraising tonight, Oct. 26, at the Presbyterian Church at 6:30.
• Marie’s Candies will be honored as the November Business of the Month at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Novl 1. As of Monday, neither their special candy nor Stoner’s sundae for the month have been announced.
• Nominations for the December Business of the Month are: LeVan’s Excavating, Inc; MCMILLANCO, LLC; and Malia Hughes with Fathom Realty.
• A new color copier for the clerk’s office at the cost of $300 was approved.
The next regular meeting is 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 14.