Jim Hoffman, pictured right, surprised the West Liberty Village Council at their meeting on Monday, April 29, by submitting his resignation. The council has 30 days to choose a replacement.
The West Liberty Village Council started their Monday, April 29, meeting by accepting the immediate resignation of Jim Hoffman, who has served as a councilmember since 2021. Hoffman had returned to full-time teaching on the nursing faculty at Rhodes State College, Lima, in the fall of 2022, and no longer felt able to juggle that with his council duties.
“Boy, it’s a big loss for us,” council president Jayne Griffith admitted.
Later, West Liberty Mayor Brad Hudson said, “We hate to see him go. He’s been a great addition to the council, but he’s busy being a professor and we understand that.”
The council has 30 days to recommend someone to fill Hoffman’s seat. Since they interviewed six applicants when faced with a similar situation in January, they already have a pool of candidates to reach out to.
Though Hoffman stated he’d been thinking about this for a while—and waiting for the right time—it was last minute for the council. They will discuss it further at the next meeting on Monday, May 13.
Newly elected councilmember Shannon Maier was sworn in on Jan. 8, and they chose Mike Woodruff from the six aforementioned applicants for a second empty spot on Jan. 22.
In other action Monday night:
- Bill Detrick, street superintendent, recommended hiring Ricky Lowe to the street department crew. “And I respectfully ask no one give us any more jobs this summer so we can get caught up,” Detrick stated. “I wouldn’t recommend [Lowe] if I didn’t think he’d work out.” The council approved the hiring, and Lowe started on May 1.
- The long-running issue regarding trash rates and recycling is on hold until an income study can be done. According to Hudson, the grant money they were looking into requires the community to be 51 percent low to medium income and West Liberty is at 33 percent. “This isn’t our year for that anyway,” Hudson said. “We won’t be eligible until 2025.”
- Ordinance 2024-06, to increase the salary for the cemetery sexton, Liesl Cornelius, starting May 3, was approved. The council bumped the pay for the assistant sexton, Cornelius’ husband, Jeff, as well. That position hadn’t seen an increase in a decade.
- A Flex grant totaling $240,000 is being pursued, which will also require an income study. This money would go toward a new senior center or ADA sidewalks.
- The Lions Club started taking bids on Monday to put in new restrooms at Lions Park. They had received two as of Tuesday morning but, Hudson stated, “the lowest was still pretty high.”
At Monday’s council meeting, Jeremy LeVan spoke to the council, suggesting they go back to the drawing board.
“Some of the specifics are Cadillac options,” Hudson said. Those include copper instead of PEX pipe and a standing seam roof rather than metal or shingle. - The village’s annual fire sales day is on Saturday, May 18.
- A meeting for a Land Bank update on the old school will take place on Tuesday, May 21, at 2 p.m. at the Logan County commissioner’s office in Bellefontaine.
The next West Liberty Village Council meeting is at 7 p.m. Monday, May 13.