NELSONVILLE, Ohio — Nelsonville City Council committees met Monday, June 15 at Nelsonville City Hall and discussed several pressing issues including a treasurer vacancy, $4.2 million that the city needs to invest, and updates to the city’s 2026 budget.
Finance Committee
Nelsonville City Auditor Brian Elkins brought up current problems with the city’s treasurer vacancy, which is “quite serious,” he said.
As of now, Nelsonville has been without a treasurer since Dec. 2025 –– and as a result, there is currently $4.2 million in a money market account that is not actively being invested, Elkins said.
Elkins was appointed to the auditor position in April of this year and has taken over the duties of the auditor and the treasurer since then. His predecessor resigned in Dec. 2025.
Elkins offered the idea of investing into the State Treasury Asset Reserve of Ohio, also known as STAR. This reserve is an investment pool for Ohio’s government subdivisions, such as municipalities or school districts, to invest in bonds or notes that allows the investor to withdraw investments into cash without fees or losing earned interest.
“At current STAR Ohio rates of approximately 3.83%, these funds could generate an estimated $160,000 annually, compared to our current pace of approximately $84,000,” Elkins said at the meeting “This represents a material ongoing revenue loss to the city and a compliance concern under Ohio Revised Code 135.”
Elkins said that though investing in STAR Ohio would be a solution, council should prioritize filling the treasurer vacancy.
“We cannot have idle cash,” Elkins said. “It has to be invested and it has to be done by the treasurer.”
Currently, without a treasurer, Elkins has taken on an extra 20 hours a week handling treasurer duties. He said he should not be the one signing checks due to the nature of his position, but the city does have internal controls in place to verify checks.
The open city treasurer position is part time, pays $350 monthly, includes an Ohio Public Employees Retirement System membership, and offers a flexible schedule.
Elkins said, “The nature of the treasurer position, as it stands and what we’ve got currently posted on social media, is under-described — as to the duties for the office.”
Further discussion about the position included suggestions from Elkins included updating the job description and the salary, among other changes. Any changes to the salary for the treasurer position, generally an elected role, must be finalized and signed by Feb. 1, 2027, to come into effect for the next elected treasurer.
Elkins said the city’s budget will not allow for any increase to the treasurer’s salary, unless the city receives grant dollars to fund the change.
Elkins said another concern of his as well is the storage of digital records.
“Ultimately, we need to have all these steps in place to avoid another situation that we dealt with with all of the prior fraud,” Elkins said. “We absolutely need these to prevent that from even being on the radar from happening.”
In addition to the treasurer vacancy, Elkins said that he had to make changes to the amended 2026 budget because the budget was created based on the original 2026 certificate of estimated resources. He said he found out that he needed to calculate a new certificate of estimated resources and submit it alongside the amended budget.
Athens County Auditor Jill Davidson said in an interview with the Independent that the certificate of estimated resources is a document the municipality submits to the County Budget Commission that includes all the municipality’s balances, encumbrances, remaining money, and the money that it expects to receive. This is in place to make sure that a municipality does not spend more money than it brings in.
In order to move along with submission of the certificate of estimated resources, Elkins had to remove $73,000 from the general revenue fund for the following:
- Nelsonville’s city auditor prorated salary for a partial year. This reduction was because Elkins was appointed to office in April of this year, rather than serving a full year.
- Prorated raise for Nelsonville’s city manager.
- Prorated raise for a grant writer.
In addition to these removals, Elkins sought permission from the council to split funds from the water and sewer funds towards litigation costs. The city currently allocates $48,000 to litigation. With these reductions and reallocation, Elkins would be able to resolve the overage found in the General Fund of the budget. This was advanced to the full council for consideration of adoption.
Planning and Development Committee
The Planning and Development Committee discussed planning for Independence Day celebrations and a Nelsonville Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area, or DORA.
The city will host an America250 Nelsonville Community Picnic in the Nelsonville Public Square 2 p.m. Sunday, July 5, with activities for all ages.
Nelsonville’s DORA will launch July 4. Allowed through state law, DORAs are special areas in jurisdictions where open container laws are relaxed.
The committee received updates from the administration that crews are working on posting DORA signage, that DORA cups and stickers have been ordered and that the city is currently working through pricing the cups and permits for business.
Police and Fire Committee
The Police and Fire Committee had two items on its agenda, both changes to current ordinances and policies. These changes were brought to the committee by Nelsonville Police Department Chief Devon Tolliver.
Tolliver proposed changes to the city’s parking ordinance that would extend the time until a car needs to be moved from a single spot to 72 hours and clarify other language in the ordinance.
This proposed change would make it a violation for a vehicle to be left in one spot for more than 72 hours. If the vehicle were not moved within 24 hours of the first citation, then it could be cited again. If unmoved after another 24 hours, it could be towed. This amendment was forwarded to the full council.
Next, Tolliver proposed amendments to the city’s excessive noise ordinance. With this amendment, Nelsonville’s quiet hours would be established from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
The updated ordinance provides clearer definitions regarding what types of noises are considered nuisances and gives Nelsonville police officers discretion in giving citations.
In the amendment, there are permitted public events that are not subject to the quiet hours rule, including parades, festivals, sports, fireworks and concerts. This amendment was forwarded to the full council.
Finally, Tolliver brought to the council a change to the city’s records maintenance policy. This change would allow the city to charge costs for processing and redacting body camera records. This amendment was also forwarded to the full council for consideration.
Parks and Recreation Committee
The Parks and Recreation Committee met to discuss the need for a new pool and a new Nelsonville Commons Playground.
The council is currently waiting on the pricing for a geotechnical technician to evaluate four different possible sites for a new city pool. As it stands, the current expected price for the evaluation is $10,000 total, or $2,500 per site.
Council member Gregg Clement said the previous pool was paid for by an income tax.
Clement said since the last pool was funded through donations and an income tax, he did not want to pursue that route again when deciding on how to fund a new pool.
He said the city won’t likely have its own pool until 2029.
Council President Cameron Peck said in response to Clement that these points are the reason the council sought to gather information about the sites and the costs. He said this information, regardless of whether it be good or bad, would give the council a sense of how to begin the process for a new pool.
The committee also received an update about the Nelsonville Commons playground. The playground equipment has been delivered and is in storage, but the decision to install needs to be made after the decision about the pool.
The committee made the motion to direct the city manager to have the utility department and a geotechnical structural engineer inspect the ground at Nelsonville Commons and the brick structures at the Nelsonville Aquatic Center.
Nelsonville’s charter council meets at 7 p.m. every other Monday of each month at Nelsonville City Hall, 211 Lake Hope Dr., Nelsonville. Its next regular meeting will be June 22.
