Nelsonville City Council approves appointees for open commission seats

NELSONVILLE, Ohio — During its regular meeting Oct. 27, Nelsonville City Council filled six vacant committee appointments, with three appointments to the Planning Commission and three appointments to the Parks and Recreation Commission.

City Manager Fred Holmes recommended the appointees and the council unanimously accepted them.

Dean Pidcock, Amy Hollenbaugh and Marcy Wagner were appointed to the Planning Commission. Steven Kibble, Roger Carpenter and Allison Loge will serve on the Parks and Recreation Commission. 

City updates

The council heard an update from Public Service Director Jason Coen, who presented a drawn map of recently installed water valves in and around Nelsonville’s Public Square.

The map depicts 22 recently installed water valves, which are being placed as part of an ongoing city water infrastructure project.

Holmes emphasized that valves help with isolating future leaks. 

“There was a time — and I think a lot of you can remember — in order to turn the water off, you had to shut half the city down,” Holmes said.“So these valves are vitally important to the overall operation of the city.”

Coen also presented a “cookie” that was cut out of one of the water lines.

Pieces extracted from water lines in Nelsonville. Photo taken Oct. 27, 2025, by Shiloh Antonuccio.

“This is why we replace [water] lines,” Coen said, pointing to the cut out. 

The council also heard from Code Officer Jason Kelley, who gave an update on vacant properties around the city.

Kelley reported that the city contracted with Sustainable Lawn Care for lawn care services at three vacant properties in the city. The properties are on Chestnut, Watkins and Patton streets.

Kelley said the properties now look “good,” but could “be better” because some structures need to be demolished.

Kelley and Holmes also presented the council with businesses’ commercial signs, yard sale signs and garage sale signs that had violated Nelsonville City Code over the last few weeks. 

Holmes said that the enforcement of the code on signs has “nothing to do with political signs,” but “the signs that we look at every day.”

Holmes said that the signs in the council chambers look “just as unattractive in the city, and we deal with this constantly, particularly with signs being put up on utility poles where they put nails in them.”

The presentation was in reference to two notices about the signs that were sent out Oct. 17 on the city’s information blog and Facebook page.

The notice on the city’s blog discussed signs on utility poles, while the notice on Facebook discussed signs on public right-of-ways. The posts led some residents to believe that the code on signs was only being enforced during election season.

Council Vice President Cory Taylor reiterated that the code is not about political signs. This isn’t the first time the ordinance on signs has been an “issue” since its adoption in 2020, he said.

City Treasurer Michael Milane gave his first report after returning to the position in October. He reported that it was a “good four months” for city funds from June through September but that the interest rate was slightly lower for the month of September.

The council also heard from Nelsonville Fire Department Chief Harry Barber who reported that the department’s Insurance Services Office rating will benefit Nelsonville homeowners.

The departments score of a three will create a collective potential savings of almost $500,000 a year for Nelsonville residents who have homeowner’s insurance, according to Barber

Insurance Services Office ratings for fire departments are measured on a scale of one through 10, with one being the highest score and 10 being the lowest score.

Barber said that since he was sworn in as chief in 2014, the Insurance Services Office has conducted two audits, one in 2018 and one in 2024. Both audits had better ratings, according to Barber.

The chief attributed the department’s low rating to training programs, consistent communication and equipment maintenance.

The council also heard an update from Law Director Jonathan Robe regarding a letter of recommendations from the city’s insurance provider, Public Entities Pool of Ohio.

The recommendations are “for actions that the city should take to address its risk profile,” according to Robe.

Only three of the recommendations are from this month. Some of the 15 other recommendations are from April of this year; Robe later told the Independent some other recommendations were from multiple years ago, with some being five years old. 

Robe told the Independent that a representative from the insurance provider said they had tried to contact the city, but were unable to do so. Robe said the letter was the first communication he has received from the insurance provider.

Only one of the recommendations has been completed — bonding a clerk. Some remain in progress while others still need to be addressed, Robe said.

Robe also said that by completing the first and most recent recommendation, contracting a public relations firm for the city, over half of the other recommendations would be completed, too.

Council action 

The council also addressed a projected $118,000 staffing budget shortfall for the Nelsonville Police Department. The council appropriated funds from the general fund through an ordinance to address the shortfall.

NPD Chief Devon Tolliver said during a Sept. 16 finance committee meeting he believed the budget shortfall was the result of initial calculations for cost and benefit packages that didn’t put the cost high enough.

The ordinance also appropriated just under $2,000 for medical supplies needed for the Nelsonville Division of Fire and just over $10,300 for vehicle maintenance.

In other business, the council heard five ordinances on first reading that would:

• Allow Holmes to make the rules and regulations for the city’s public utilities known to the public.
• Authorize the city to apply, accept and enter into an Ohio Environmental Protection Agency loan account for the design of phase four of the city’s water system improvement project.
• Appropriate just over $34,500 to purchase a brush chipper.
• Allow Holmes to allocate funds for new playground equipment and the renovation of Nelson Commons Park. 
• Approve a memorandum of understanding modifying the collective bargaining agreement between the city and the Fraternal Order of Police Ohio Labor Council to hire a new K-9 officer.

The council also passed two ordinances on emergency measures that:

• Approved a memorandum of understanding between the Nelsonville Fire Department and the state and local branch of the American Federation of State, County, Municipal Employee union to clarify the rate of pay for fire department employees on special duty.
• Authorized Holmes to hire someone as a part-time secretarial staff member for the city boards and city commissions. 

Nelsonville City Council meets every other Monday of each month, at Nelsonville City Council Chambers, 211 Lake Hope Drive. Its next regular meeting will be Monday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. Meetings are live streamed on YouTube. Find more at cityofnelsonville.com.