The Monday night regular meeting of the Richwood Village Council began with Mayor Scott Jerew swearing in new member Laurie Elliott.
The Grove Street resident was chosen to fill the vacant seat of Von Beal, who resigned from council a few months ago.
The second order of business was swearing in officer Alfred Blevins. Blevins was hired to fill the full-time position of officer Sebastian Walker who left the department for other employment. Blevins has been in law enforcement for seven years, working on the South Point and Cole Grove police departments. He was also a corrections officer at the Chillicothe Correction Facility.
Several visitors were present and approached council.
Gail DeGood Guy announced that a Veterans Day event will take place at North Union Elementary on Nov. 9 when the students will present a program to honor veterans. Following the event, the Richwood VFW Post 870 and American Legion Post 40 will invite veterans and their guests to a free brunch at the VFW hall at 10 a.m.
Dane Summer, a representative of Choice 1 Engineering offered the engineering firm’s services to the village should it need assistance. It has offices in Ohio and in Indiana.
Tiffanie Roberts introduced herself to council and explained that she is running for a Union County Commissioner’s seat in the Nov. 6 general election.
Beatty Avenue resident Peggy Jamison thanked the village for its assistance in figuring out her drainage problems at her home. She also asked about a vacant lot behind her home that is collecting broken pieces of concrete and cement blocks, along with a vehicle or two. She said she would like the village to check into ownership of the property to determine if the dumping is authorized.
Jason Keigley was in attendance of the meeting to ask about the plans for the former town hall building, located at the corner of Bomford and South Franklin streets. He, along with several other residents would like to see council refurbish the building and make it a recreation center or a safe place for youth to go. He has a plan and a group wanting to donate labor and supplies for fixing up the building.
Mayor Scott Jerew and Village Administrator Monte Asher explained to Keigley that back in the 1800s, the town hall belonged to village council. Over the years, somehow the title was changed and the Church of Christ gave the building to the trustees of Richwood. After many months of research and lots of money, the title now shows that the former town hall building now belongs to village council.
Now that council has a clear title to the building, it can begin discussing future plans for the building. Council wants to come up with some suggestions, followed by meetings for the village residents to voice their opinions before making any decisions. There have also been some contact with a few different people who have offered to purchase the building. Council will be meeting to decide the future of the building and the public will be invited to participate.
Jerew also stated that council will not be discussing the details of the project on any social media sources. I
f anyone has questions, they should come to village council to discuss their concerns, not on Facebook or any other social media site.
Council suspended the rules and approved a resolution to authorize a connector walking path from Lake Baccarat to the Richwood Fairgrounds. This action was due to a limit on time to seek grant funds for the purchase of land for the proposed Lake Baccarat Pedestrian Path Extension.
In other business, council;
-Heard from Asher that an old well pump was removed, repaired and flushed.
-Heard that letters were sent to residents who have issues with their sewer lines that need corrected. The village also has risers and lids that need replaced and five catch basins that need attention. All corrections have a Dec. 31.
-Was told that Brody Moore started working for the village Monday, replacing Angela Crumb on the street department.
-Heard the alleys were harley raked and leveled.
Due to Veterans Day being observed on Monday, Nov. 12, the next regular meeting will be held on Monday, Nov. 26 at 7 p.m.