NELSONVILLE, Ohio — During its regularly scheduled Oct. 13 meeting, Nelsonville City Council approved the appointment of McCray Powell to serve as council member, following Wesley Henderson’s recent resignation.
Powell had been serving as interim city treasurer since Aug. 11, after former treasurer Michael Milane resigned.
The council voted 4-1 to approve Powell, with council member Nic Joseph-Saul abstaining and Flowers voting no. Council member Cameron Peck made a motion to approve Powell, which was seconded by Council Vice President Cory Taylor.
Both Powell and former council member Doug Childs had submitted letters of interest to fill the vacant council seat. Council member Jonathan Flowers made a motion to approve Childs for the position, but no other council member seconded the motion.
During the meeting, City Manager Fred Holmes recommended the council approve Milane to return to the position and attributed “personal issues” as to why Milane resigned in the first place. The council voted unanimously to accept Holmes’ recommendation.
Brian Elkins, who is currently a write-in candidate for treasurer in the upcoming November general election, also submitted a letter of interest for the position of treasurer.
City updates
During his report to the council, Holmes said that the construction of Canal Street is on schedule and should be complete by the end of the month.
Holmes also reported that the restoration project for Nelsonville Public Square’s fountain will begin on Tuesday, Oct. 21. The fountain was picked up that day to be transported to Alabama so that Robinson Iron can restore it. Holmes said the city expects that the fountain will be back in the spring.
Also in the spring, new pool shades from GameTime will be installed at the Nelsonville Aquatic Center. Holmes reported the anchors for the shades are currently being installed.
The city also put in order for six manhole filters to be installed on Burr Oak Boulevard to help combat odor, according to Holmes.
Holmes said he continues to work on changing the zoning at the east end of Canal street from industrial to highway commercial. Holmes said he is working on identifying the properties within 200 feet of the proposed zoning change; a public hearing will be held regarding the proposed change.
Holmes also recommended Nathan Saving for the position of part-time firefighter at the Nelsonville Division Of Fire. The council unanimously accepted the recommendation.
Code Officer Austin Kelley was not present to give his update so Holmes did instead. Holmes reported that from Sept. 8 to Oct. 10 the code office issued 62 notices of code violations, received five complaint cases, had one notice of condemnation and issued five civil citations.
The office also issued 23 permits for reasons such as contracting, renting, vendors and signs.
The total revenue generated in that time period was $1,220, according to the report Holmes read.
The council also heard a report from Nelsonville Law Director Jonathan Robe regarding a meeting he and Holmes had with the city’s insurance carrier, Public Entities Pool of Ohio.
Robe told the council that the company sent an “extensive” letter of recommendations that “the city immediately implement.”
Robe said some of the recommendations have already been implemented, such as bonding the clerk of the mayor’s court, but he still needed to review the letter so the other recommendations were not stated during the meeting.
Robe continued by saying based on the discussions he and Holmes had with the company’s representative, Robe anticipates he “will recommend all recommendations be implemented as soon as possible.”
Robe also told the council that the representative conveyed “serious concerns that the insurance carrier has about the transition and form of government due to the lack of transitional authority.”
According to Robe, the city’s risk profile is in an “extraordinary tenuous position right now.”
While Robe said he didn’t think it was likely the city will lose its current insurance carrier, he wouldn’t be surprised if the company informs the city on options for getting supplemental insurance coverage on the private market.
In the long term, the city cannot afford a company on the private market — but that might be its only option if the Public Entities Pool of Ohio will no longer insure the city, according to Robe.
Nelsonville Police Chief Devon Tolliver also gave a report.
Tolliver reported that during the month of September the department had 365 calls for service, conducted 104 traffic stops, issued 42 citations, investigated five traffic crashes, and made 29 arrests, 18 of which were criminal.
Council action
During the council’s administrative part of its Oct. 13 meeting, an ordinance addressed the recent projected staffing budget shortfall for the Nelsonville Police Department.
The ordinance, which was heard of first reading, would appropriate $118,000 from the general fund to address the projected shortfall.
Tolliver said during a Sept. 16 finance committee meeting he believed “the initial calculation for the costs and the benefit packages weren’t high enough.”
During the council’s Sept. 22 meeting Smith reported that the city’s general fund was just shy of being considered healthy and stable.
Smith told the Independent in an email that with the new proposed appropriation overall combined fund balance would remain healthy but the general fund “will get farther from being considered healthy.”
The ordinance would also appropriate just under $2,000 for medical supplies needed by the Nelsonville Division of Fire and just over $10,000 for vehicle maintenance.
The council also passed an ordinance on second reading that amended the 2025 appropriations to pay a Nelsonville police officer for educational incentives, as well as address fuel costs for the police department and the Nelsonville Code Office.
In other business, the council passed six ordinances on emergency measures that:
- Allowed the administrative assistant in the city manager’s office to join a labor union.
- Naming the unnamed street where the new Nelsonville Dog Park is being constructed to Dog Park Lane.
- Allocated monies from specific funds to reimburse attorney expenses.
- Appropriated just over $14,000 to pay Robe for legal expenses; appropriated just over $8,400 to pay attorney Bradley Nicodemus for legal expenses; and appropriated just under $4,800 to pay Reminger for legal expenses.
- Approved a then-and-now certificate relating to the delivery and installation of GameTime pool shades for the Nelsonville City Pool.
- Paid contractors working on the Nelsonville Dog Park an additional $13,900 for costs associated with increasing the parking area and adding material under the turf at the park to accommodate for drainage. The cost is covered in the contingency portion of the project funding, according to the ordinance.
The council also adopted two resolutions that:
- Ratified an agreement between Holmes and a city water customer. The agreement relates to $23,000 worth of disputed water charges the water customer owed due to a massive water leak. The agreement allowed the customer to pay portions of the cost over the next six years, according to the ordinance.
- Authorized the payment of just under $6,800 for backpay to Nelsonville Water Director Jeff Traugh. The payment is because Traugh is a contracted employee and was left out of a bargaining agreement that gave increases in pay starting Jan.1,2026, according to council discussion.
Council quarrel
During the Oct. 13 meeting, Flowers also made a motion to amend the minutes for an Oct. 1 special meeting.
“It says in the minutes that I received that I had called a special council meeting that, in fact, is not true,” Flowers said.
The agenda for the special meeting also stated that Flowers had requested the meeting.
The issue discussed during the Oct. 1 special meeting was line items in the water, sewer and general funds being to be used to cover legal fees and services.
City Auditor Nicholas Smith told the Independent in a Sept. 23 email that the council has the ability to give specific instructions about which funds should be used to cover legal costs, but when no instructions are given, the auditor’s office uses “a combination of general, water, and sewer funds to pay these costs.”
Smith also said in the email that he consulted with Robe and Denise Blair, the chief Ohio Auditor of State auditor of Southeast Ohio, “to ensure that this is appropriate and proper.”
None of the other council members seconded Flowers’ motion. In response, Joseph-Saul attempted to make a motion to change that the purpose of the meeting was “called to address the concern raised by Councilman Flowers.”
The motion was seconded by Flowers, but the vote ultimately failed 3-2 with Council President Gregg Clement, Peck and Taylor voting no, and Powell abstaining.
Clerk of council Susan Harmony did not do a complete roll call by not calling on council member Opha Lawson for his vote.
In response to both votes not passing, Flowers attempted to make an amendment that would say he believed the special meeting “was a political attack on me.”
Peck responded, “We weren’t the ones that needed [the meeting],” he said. “That’s what we came to at the meeting, is that we needed a special council [meeting] to edify you as to why we paid what we do the way we do. Seems like you’ve been here two years and you still don’t know, but you didn’t show up.”
Taylor and Peck then directed ironic jabs toward Flowers, which he responded by saying, “You folks are useless,” and dismissed his amendment request.
The council then accepted the meeting minutes through a vote, with only Flowers voting no.
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. 27 at 7 p.m. Meetings are live streamed on YouTube. Find more at cityofnelsonville.com.
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