With West Liberty’s biggest event of the year just over six weeks away, the village is gearing up for the influx of, potentially, thousands of visitors. Not only coming to enjoy the annual Labor Day Festival, Aug. 30 to Sept. 2, but also to attend the Country Legends Festival on Saturday, Aug. 31.
As a result, the latter become a top topic of conversation at the village council’s regular meeting on Monday, July 22. Specifically, they discussed how to handle security.
One of the festival organizers, Jeremy LeVan, broached the subject during the public participation segment of the meeting, asking if the city would cover security for the event.
Brad Hudson, who’s been West Liberty’s mayor since this past January, asked, “What did we do last year?”
Council President Jayne Griffith responded, “We got in trouble,” then added, “We didn’t do it right.”
According to fellow councilmember Trent Spriggs, the problem came from paying police officers as subcontractors rather than as employees getting overtime wages.
Since that didn’t work, something else needs to be done. Especially since LeVan informed the council they already have over 3,000 people coming to the concert.
“We’ll talk with Shane (Police Chief Oelker) and let you know at the next meeting,” Hudson concluded.
Griffith added, “We want to support you, Jeremy … so we’ll figure out how to do it.”
Bill Detrick, street superintendent, had several items for the council’s consideration, but the main one was his request to order small trash bags at a cost of $5,650. He called it a “pay as you throw” program, adding, “I don’t know how you’d keep track otherwise.”
Hudson asked for a week to go over the purchase in committee. Councilmembers Jeanette Zerkle and Alyssa Kauffman agreed to be part of that discussion, with Detrick sitting in to provide information as needed.
On a related note, Cindee Boyd, village clerk/treasurer, gave an update regarding dumpster/trash rates and recycling. The amount of trash from January to June 2023 went from over 417 tons to 445.
Revenue from trash bags increased from $32,287 to $35,902. The expense for trash bags, however, dropped from $18,572 to $14,933.
Detrick said another storm drain tile collapsed and asked the council to approve paying Heater Excavating to add that to the work they’ll be doing on the culvert at Lions Park. Unfortunately, he admitted, they won’t know how much it will cost until it’s done. The council approved the request.
Finally, he stated the gravel alleys are in “really bad shape” and the work to bring the gravel up and get rid of the potholes needs to be done soon. Fortunately, the company will do it for $75 an hour, which, he admits, is cheap.
Fire Chief Darin Leach gave the council an update on the FEMA grants that didn’t go through last year. Since FEMA started issuing them again two weeks ago, he said, they should know if they have good news within the next couple of months.
And Leach stated he planned to reapply for a grant to cover firefighter gear with the council’s approval. The five to one matching grant would help offset costs for coats and pants.
Logan Landscaping has offered to do one-year maintenance on the north and south Welcome to West Liberty signs as well as at Ricketts Park for $1,000. Detrick added the need to stain the pergolas near the splash pad. The council decided to put the work on hold until spring 2025.
All village employees and elected officials are required to watch an eight-minute fraud training video from the Ohio state auditor.
Hudson said he will appoint people to be on the planning commission, which consists of the mayor, a council member and three residents. Griffith volunteered to be the councilmember participant and they still have resident Jeremy Hankins on the committee. Hudson will look into finding people to fill the other two spots.
The 26th annual West Liberty ice cream social will take place this Saturday, July 27, from 4 to 7:30 p.m. at the United Methodist Church, 202 W. Newell Street. The menu includes noodles, sandwiches and, of course, homemade ice cream. All proceeds will go to benefit Patrick and Courtney Stanton and family.
The next West Liberty village council meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 12.
