NELSONVILLE, Ohio — Nelsonville City Council member Wesley Henderson has resigned from the council, Council President Gregg Clement announced during the regular meeting Monday.
Henderson was appointed to the council Aug. 11.
The council did not share any further information about Henderson’s resignation. The Independent has requested communications between Henderson and the council regarding his departure.
Clement said letters of interest for the vacant council member seat can be submitted to Clerk of Council Susan Harmony until Oct. 6.
Clement also announced that Harmony plans to step away from her position Nov. 30. The Independent has requested a copy of Harmony’s letter of resignation.
Budget shortfall discussed
City Auditor Nicholas Smith gave his first report, following his recent approval to the position. The report for the month of August listed four of the five city funds at a healthy and stable level, with the general fund being just shy of that. The city’s revenues outpaced its expenses by just over $15,000 during the month.
Council member Nic Joseph-Saul asked if funds would stay healthy next month, following an upcoming projected $103,000 staffing budget shortfall for the Nelsonville Police Department. Smith said the council would need to appropriate funds to cover the projected shortfall.
The shortfall was discussed during a Sept. 16 finance committee meeting. During that meeting, Smith told the committee that the city needs about $289,000 to cover salaries through the end of the year; the budget line for the police department currently has around $185,000, according to Smith.
Police Chief Devon Tolliver said during the finance committee meeting he believed “the initial calculation for the costs and the benefit packages weren’t high enough.”
Smith also reported that he has begun to plan the 2026 budget and he is working with interim City Treasurer McCray Powell to address a bank reconciliation backlog that was caused by the absence of the former treasurer during the summer. Both Smith and Powell will attend a fiscal officer training event next week.
Sewer fee dispute
In his report to council, City Manager Fred Holmes addressed concerns raised at the council’s Sept. 8 meeting by Nelsonville resident Stuart Brooks about a proposed $3 fee for upgrading and maintaining the city’s storm sewer infrastructure and systems.
At that meeting, Brooks said that imposing the fee wasn’t practical if the storm sewers were clogged up and unclean.
Holmes clarified Monday night that revenue from the fee is primarily intended to address streets lacking up-to-date infrastructure or that have no storm sewer grates at all. The revenue is also supposed to go toward building up money to match grants that could cover operating costs.
According to Joseph-Saul, charging $36 per year from roughly 1,800 water customers would net the city around $64,000 a year.
Holmes’ comments reignited the discussion from the last meeting, which led to a back-and-forth discussion between Nelsonville residents and the council.
Former city auditor Sue Powell repeated her opposition to the fee voiced at the previous meeting, saying it’s costly and that it would take a long time to build up enough money to match a grant.
Council member Jonathan Flowers also disagreed with the cost of the fee. Flowers previously stated he wanted the fee to be $1.50.
Former council member Greg Smith told the council he was collecting signatures for a petition to create a referendum to have the $3 fee as an option on the ballot for the November 2026 election. The deadline has passed for the November 2025 election.
“You are putting a tax on the water bill and a tax requires a vote of the people,” Smith said.
Joseph-Saul asked Nelsonville Law Director Jonathan Robe if the $3 fee was a tax; Robe said it was a surcharge.
Smith told the Independent that since the ordinance was enacted Sept. 8, he has until Oct. 7 to get 139 signatures for the petition.
In other matters, Holmes:
- Submitted a Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area application to the council. The council voted to send the DORA application to the planning and development committee for discussion and advertise the application in a newspaper, pursuant to Ohio Revised Code 4301.82. After advertising the application for at least 30 days, the council can decide to approve or deny the application by an ordinance or resolution.
- Reported that he continues to work on the city’s comprehensive plan.
- Recommended that the council consider revoking its Aug. 11 repeal of Issue 23 “for the good of the citizens.” Issue 23 was an initiative passed by 70% of voters in November 2024 to return to a statutory-based government and abolish the Nelsonville City Charter. Holmes is running for mayor in the Nov. 4 general election.
Fire and police reports
Nelsonville Fire Department Chief Harry Barber told the council his department has been hosting training events for its employees and education programs for students. Fire department employees will continue to attend courses in October.
Barber reported that since his last report to the council there have been four structure fires, all of which were contained.
Barber and Holmes also presented the council with two recommendations for open positions, one for a full-time firefighter and the other for a part-time firefighter. The council accepted the recommendations and approved George Roback to the full-time position and Elijah Wade for the part-time position. Wade’s approval was conditioned on passing a state firefighter test he is set to take on Friday.
Nelsonville City Service Director Jason Coen reported that the new water main on Washington Street has been installed and is being tested along with the water mains it connects with surrounding streets.
Coen also reported that the construction of the Nelsonville Dog Park continues.
Council action
The council passed an ordinance on an emergency measure that amended the language in the collective bargaining agreement between the city and the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio. The agreement had vague language on the percent of salary increase officers would receive based on their educational background.
The vague wording affected an officer with a bachelor’s and master’s degree who was not getting paid properly. The city owes the officer just over $1,500.
The collective bargaining agreement ordinance and projected staff fund shortfall have no correlation, according to Holmes.
“The previous wording was basically [officers] had to stack all three types of degrees to reach the max 6% incentive. The new wording just caps each degree as a set percentage,” Tolliver said at a Sept. 16 Finance Committee meeting.
The agreement now awards officers a 2% increase wage increase for each degree that they have.
The council heard first reading of an ordinance amending the 2025 appropriations to pay the officer what is owed, as well as address fuel costs for the police department and the Nelsonville Code Office.
In other business, the council passed three ordinances on second reading that:
- Amended the 2025 appropriations ordinance for street construction funds.
- Authorized the city to enter into a professional services agreement with DLZ as part of the city’s water system improvement project. The cost is just over $270,000.
- Authorized the city to enter into a professional services agreement with DLZ as part of the city’s sewer improvement project. The cost is just over $528,000. The city intends to apply for a $500,000 critical infrastructure grant to cover most of the costs.
The council also adopted a resolution that instructed Holmes to advertise city real estate property located at 126 Jefferson St. for bids to purchase.
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, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. Meetings are live streamed on YouTube. Find more at cityofnelsonville.com.
